A Change of Heart
by EveryBodyHatesHugo815
Summary: Sequel to 'Not What it Seems'. They did it. They escaped. Now Laney Collins and the others are on the run for their lives, and she is determined to find some answers. Some answers, though, are better left unknown.
1. Chapter 1

**Drum Roll please... I now present the sequel 'A Change of Heart'. Things are definitely going to get interesting for Laney. In my last story I tried to stay as close to the plot lines as possible, but this story is going to change a little. There are going to be a few other view points, and some changes to the plot (hey that's the beauty of fanfiction!) I love to hear from you guys so any reviews and messages are always welcome =). I hope you really really enjoy this story =)**_  
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_He was sitting doing crosswords. They always kept his mind at ease. He tapped his pen loudly several times on his desk trying to concentrate. There was this one riddle that he had yet to solve. He stared at the cap on his pen briefly before slamming it down. There was a knock on his door, and one of the guys came with stacks of folders. He started flipping through each folder one right after the other._

_ "Talk to me," he said to the young man._

_The young man was clearly nervous to be standing in his presence and had to clear his throat a few times. Four to be exact._

_ "8 of them sir. Possibly one hostage."_

_He flipped back to the first folder and was staring at the face of the mastermind behind the whole scheme._

_ "That's Michael Scofield, 5 years for aggravated robbery."_

_He put that folder especially to the side. If Scofield was the mastermind behind the whole thing then he would have to get a little more personal with Scofield. The next folder had the picture of a strong looking black man._

_ "Benjamin Miles Franklin, discharged from the military, and arrested for illegal sales in the black market."_

_No problem there. He quickly flipped over to the next folder the most infamous inmate._

_ "John Abruzzi, life in prison for various counts of murder and kidnapping. A know affiliate of the Italian mob."_

_That one could prove to be trouble. Abruzzi would have ways of disappearing. The next folder showed a picture of a deranged face. The other guy snorted a little before continuing._

_ "Charles Patoshik, life for killing off his family. Ordered criminally insane."_

_He had to hide back his grin. This guy wouldn't be difficult, and he wouldn't be surprised if Patoshik did something to get himself caught. He flipped over to the face of a younger looking Latino._

_ "Fernando Sucre, 5 years for aggravated robbery. He was Scofield's cell mate."_

_Again, he didn't figure it would be a problem. The only thing interesting about this guy was his affiliation with Scofield. The next folder was probably the youngest inmate._

_ "David Apolskis, in for grand larceny. Word is he was quite close with the known hostage."_

_He actually felt a little sorry for the kid. He was probably scared out of his mind. The picture revealed a face of pure evil. Even the other guys was briefly silent just looking at the picture._

_ "Theodore Bagwell, life sentence for multiple counts of rape and murder," the guy choked out._

_That one would go on a priority list. He needed to find Bagwell before he could kill anyone else. The next folder felt like it weighed the most. Inside was probably the most easily recognizable face of the bunch._

_ "Lincoln Burrows, scheduled to be executed next week for murdering the Vice President's brother. He is the known brother for Scofield."_

_He thought that was very interesting. The mastermind behind the escape had a brother who was scheduled for execution. He had to smirk to himself for already starting to understand this guy. The last folder wasn't a large one, and it held the information for not an inmate._

_ "That is Laney Collins, the suspected hostage. She was sent undercover to get some information about Abruzzi."_

_He stared at her picture briefly. She was the daughter of Agent Collins alright, he could tell by her eyes. He quickly shut the folder and stuffed all of them away. He wasn't entirely sure that Laney was indeed a hostage, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what she was doing. He looked up to the other guy and narrowed his eyes._

_ "Get me everything on Michael Scofield," he ordered._

_The guy nodded his head._

_ "Yes Sir Agent Mahone."_


	2. Chapter 2

We never stopped running until it was daylight. I was an agent, and I was in shape, but nothing ever would have prepared me for that. I was exhausted. I could hear the guards and the dogs behind us, and if we didn't do something, they would catch us. The sun was burning bright and it was starting to wear on me. We had been running for 12 hours, and that was starting to wear on me. If they didn't want to deal with a whiny bitch to slow them down, then we would have to find a place to rest soon.

Abruzzi and C-note pulled ahead of the group and broke through the tree line. I heard the faint whistle of a train coming. For just a moment, my mind wandered over to Tweener and Tbag. I hoped that they were both alright, and were able to avoid getting caught. My heart tugged when I thought about Tweener, and I hoped that I would see him again soon. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, and I broke through the tree line. The train was moving a lot faster than I thought it was and we were going to have to race to beat it. We all picked up our pace trying to outrun the train.

"Freeze Scofield!" shouted the familiar voice of Bellick.

I had to fight to keep from turning my head around and started to run faster. Being in the FBI, I was in good shape and everything, but this was a lot of God damn running. I would be voicing my complaints later on. Gun shots rang out, and I ducked my head as a reaction. Nothing was in pain, so I was assuming that I didn't get hit. Sucre reached the front of the train first and quickly hopped across the tracks. I pushed myself a little farther and I reached the front of the train. But I wasn't jumping across.

"Come on Mami, you can do it," called out Sucre from the other side.

I looked at Sucre with nervous eyes and slowed down slightly. What if I didn't make the jump, and got caught by the train? My uncertainty was enough for the train to pull ahead again. Sucre's eyes went wide and Abruzzi, C-note, and Lincoln went sprinting by me. They quickly pulled ahead of the train and jumped across the tracks. I knew that Michael was still behind me somewhere, and maybe he was distracting the other guards so I could get across. Sucre and Abruzzi were signaling to hurry up and jump, and I shut my eyes and started running faster and faster until I leaped across the tracks.

I opened my eyes as I landed in the ditch, and fell face first into the ground. My arms and the side of my face got all scratched up, and I realized that I desperately needed a shower. My body was caked with dried mud from where I fell, I had blood spattered over me when Tbag lost his hand, and now I was getting all scratched up. My pity party ended when Abruzzi hoisted me up by my waist. We were waiting for Michael, but lost sight of him. I could see the guards running by the train trying to figure out how to get to the other side.

Out of nowhere, Michael comes crashing through one of the cars that he was hiding in. A gun shot rang out and barely missed Michael. I looked over to see who fired the shot, and Bellick was staring daggers at us. The guys all quickly took off running, but I just stayed for a moment staring back at Bellick. I wondered what was going through his head when he saw me. And I also wondered if my father was on the scene yet, and what he would think about all of this. When I realized that the train was ending, I turned my head away from Bellick and took off for the trees.

It didn't take me that long to catch up to the others because honestly they moved slow as hell. Especially Abruzzi, but I guessed at his age you weren't doing much running. We all broke through a clearing in the woods where everyone stopped for a rest.

"This is not working guys," I panted as I put my hands on my knees and bent over.

I guess that was the wrong thing to say because some strong hand wrapped itself around the back of my neck and yanked my head backwards. I grunted at the pressure on my spine and was staring up at Abruzzi's cold eyes.

"You trying to slow us down Bella?" he hissed "I bet you want us to get caught don't you _Agent _ Collins" he mocked.

I jerked myself free of his clutches and backed away from him. I was just glaring at him, but I couldn't give him an answer. I didn't know what I was doing anymore. If my father could see me now, he would probably yell at me into next year for losing control of the situation. Abruzzi started to stalk back towards me.

"Leave her alone John," said Michael.

The guys looked at Michael with shocked eyes. They were probably surprised that Michael was defending me after my betrayal. Pretty obviously I was grateful for somebody standing up for me. I heard C-note snicker and he was shaking his head.

"I know your plan Scofield," he spat, "I know where you are heading and you are probably taking snowflake with you."

I raised my eyebrows confused at what C-note was implying, but Michael didn't seem to be fooled. I tried to rack my brain as to what he was saying, but I came up with nothing.

"They're headed to Utah to recover the 5 million that Westmoreland buried in the desert," explained C-note.

I immediately started shaking my head, but who was I kidding they weren't going to trust me. Abruzzi just looked pissed, and Sucre looked let down. He was probably upset that Michael hadn't told him about the money yet. It was then that I remembered sitting in the medical room with Westmoreland. I was still handcuffed to Tbag, and only a handful of us knew what he told us about the money. Until C-note went and blabbed. I wanted to say something, but we heard the dogs barking, and without a second thought we all took off running again.


	3. Chapter 3

_The press had been waiting on Mahone for over 30 minutes. The rumors were spread about a mass breakout at Fox River, and every news station within a 2 hour radius had shown up to this conference. They all knew that if they brought in Mahone, it must be something serious. In the background, Warden Pope and Agent Collins were waiting for Mahone. They both wanted this nightmare to be over as soon as possible. _

_Finally, the door opened and the cameras started flashing. Mahone slowly made his way up to the podium, and the journalists already started pounding him with questions. Was there really a mass breakout? How many? Are they dangerous? Who are they? Agent Collins scoffed at all of these vultures. Of course these men were dangerous, and they had taken his daughter with them. He just hoped that her secret hadn't been blown. Mahone cleared his throat to speak._

_ "It took 12 days to find John Wilkes Booth. His mental mind went from paranoia to psychosis. The mental mind of the criminal today has not changed. The fear is still there. One big change today is the power of television. Please take a look at these eight faces. They are the eight most wanted men in America."_

_For all of the viewers watching the press conference from home a picture of the eight convicts now flashed across the screen. Some of the inmates were easily recognizable like Bagwell, Abruzzi, and Burrows. Others weren't so easy because they were younger are not as dangerous. The television flashed back to Mahone._

_ "Make note of another face if you would. We have now determined that she is a known hostage, and was working undercover for the FBI. Agent Laney Collins."_

_The television flashed to a picture of a young and beautiful girl. Her dark hair fell around her shoulders, and her blue eyes contrasted with her light skin. Her smile radiated off the television and anyone watching this would feel deep sympathy for her safety. That was the idea anyway. Agent Collins was fuming in the back of the room. Was Mahone out of his mind? He couldn't wait until he got this man alone and give him a piece of his mind. _

_He had to wait almost another 30 minutes, but he was finally able to get Mahone alone. Warden Pope must have sensed the tension because he followed the two agents in. _

_ "What do you think you are doing involving Laney?" spat Collins. _

_Mahone just looked blankly at him for a moment._

_ "She got involved when she first set foot in Fox River. She may very well be a hostage."_

_Collins angrily shook his head._

_ "Or she was still undercover, and your little announcement just put her in danger."_

_Mahone almost smirked._

_ "And the third option is that she is working with them."_

_Collins had had enough of this crap and roughly grabbed Mahone by his shirt collar. He slammed him up against the wall and got in close to his face. Pope decided it was time to intervene and break these two up. They were never going to catch the inmates if they couldn't get along with each other. _

_ "Son. Of. A. Bitch." Growled Collins. _

_ "You may not like it, but I am guessing that your daughter is going to be the key."_

_Mahone didn't even try to fight him off. He was just standing there looking blankly like he had something else on his mind. Collins on the other hand looked like he could rip somebody's head off. _

_ "Alright Collins, he didn't mean it like that. I'm sure whatever Laney is doing out there will get sorted out, but fighting each other is not helping."_

_Collins considered this for a moment and released Mahone. He knew that Pope was right. He vowed that he would bring these scum to justice and get his daughter back, or he would die trying._


	4. Chapter 4

We ran and ran until we came upon the lake. It was a sight to see. I thought it was quite beautiful with the blue water. Michael and Lincoln separated from the others to go have a chat of their own, and the rest of the guys looked downright pissed. They just wanted to feel included. I wanted to feel the opposite, and I just wanted to be alone. I slowly moved away from Abruzzi and down to where the water met the land. I slipped off my shoes and slipped my toes into the water. Before long, I was sitting on the ground, letting the water run up to my ankles and I was attempting to clean myself up.

Michael and Lincoln were sitting on the docks talking about God only knows. I was running the water up my arms to try and clean some of the mud and blood off. I splashed myself in the face a couple of times and I instantly felt better. The cold water felt good between my toes and the warm sun felt good on my face. I wished that I could just sit here all day. This is a spot that I would like to just rest with Tweener all day long. I really hoped that he was alright, and I wondered when and if I would see him again.

The only way I would get to come here with Tweener would be if he didn't get himself arrested. Could I live with myself if he got away? These were inmates and it was my job and responsibility to bring them all back to Fox River. But in my mind it just felt wrong, like I wasn't supposed to be doing this. I ran my hand through my hair trying to figure everything out.

"Laney." Called out Abruzzi.

They were ready to move again, so I slipped my shoes back and started running again to catch up with the rest of the guys. We weren't running very long before we came to a campsite along the lake. The supplies and everything were still here, but luckily it was deserted. The guys hurried through looking for food or water, but something caught my eye near the tent. I moved towards it and it was some sort of cloth, but it looked so familiar. I knelt down to get a closer look and I realized that it was a shirt and it had blood on it. My eyes widened and I started looking around through the trees, this was my shirt and I had given it to someone before I left them.

Tbag had been here.

I didn't want the others to know that Tbag had been here and he still might be close by, so I walked a little distance away to hide the shirt. I decided somewhere behind a tree was good. I had to smile at the thought of Tbag already being here. It been that he wasn't dead or caught yet. But he still needed medical treatment for his hand, and if he didn't get it soon it would be too late. How are you supposed to get treatment when you're a wanted fugitive?

I was lost in thought and I didn't hear the rustling behind me. I turned around and jumped when I came face to face with four other guys. My hand covered my mouth as the guys stared at me with confusion. They were probably wondering what the hell I was doing out here looking like I did? They all had long guns in their hands, and I assumed that they were hunting. The thing that scared me the most was the little girl that was hiding behind one of the guys.

"You lost or something gorgeous?" one of the guys spoke.

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't have time to play this game. If the other guys, especially Abruzzi, caught them they would be in serious danger. I put my finger up to my mouth and told them to be quiet. I was signaling to them that they needed to leave now, but they weren't taking the hint. Then I saw their eyes go wide and I heard the click of a gun behind me. As if things couldn't get worse, the guys panicked and all raised their guns towards us. That sent Abruzzi into a panic and he wrapped his arm around my throat pulling me into his chest. He was using me as a shield as he was pointing his gun at one of the other guys. Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, and C-note were completely vulnerable.

"You are the guys from Fox River," one of the guys spat, "why don't you let the girl go before someone gets hurt."

Oh my God, these guys were going to get themselves killed trying to be heroes. I was trying to talk Abruzzi down, but he only squeezed my throat tighter and tighter. I could see the fear in the other guy's eyes. Abruzzi started aiming his gun and cocked it nearly ready to pull the trigger.

"John stop, they have a little girl with them," I choked out.

C-note and Lincoln were quick to agree, but Abruzzi wasn't letting up. He ordered the rest of the guys to drop their guns. The panic really set when he aimed his gun towards that little girl. She started to sob, and I tried to fight away from Abruzzi. What the hell was he doing? He had a daughter for crying out loud! The girl started to cry louder and louder, and I was afraid that Abruzzi was really going to shoot her just to make her be quiet.

The other guys were starting to sense the seriousness and began to lower their guns. Abruzzi was nodding his head and encouraging them on. They had finally set the guns down, and they were pleading for their lives. The little girl still hadn't stopped crying. Abruzzi released his hold on my throat, but he still had his hold on me triumphantly and possessively. Michael stepped forward to the men.

"I need the keys to your car," he demanded.

They knew this time not to jerk around, and they quickly handed over their keys. Michael quickly took them and started moving towards the road.

"Wait you can take my car, but just let the girl go," one of them pleaded.

Abruzzi only pulled on my arm so I was running with them. I didn't even look back at their faces before we were making our way up the hill. I was absolutely furious and I wanted nothing more than to tear Abruzzi's eyes out. We found the big jeep easily and I climbed into the back with Sucre. Michael and Abruzzi were in front of us, and C-note was in the front with Lincoln driving.

"Are you nuts man?" screamed C-note at Abruzzi, "they had a little girl, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"And you have a daughter!" I chimed in from the back.

That earned me a nasty glare from Abruzzi. I just glared right back. I wasn't going to be sorry for what I said. He needed to know that he had taken things too far.

"If I hadn't done what I did, then we wouldn't be on our way right now," he argued.

I slumped back in my seat pouting.

"Well you didn't have to choke me so damn hard," I said.

That made Abruzzi laugh, and I had to admit that I couldn't hide my smile. C-note and Sucre were both getting antsy waiting until they could reunite with their girlfriends. One needed to go to Chicago, the other was headed for New York. Again, I couldn't help but smile at these two. Their main reasons for escaping was to be the one that they loved. I couldn't blame them for that because I think that I would do just about anything to be with my loved ones like Melanie and Tweener.

"Love will be your weakness," commented Abruzzi, "the police know who they are and they will be waiting. And she knows all of our plans." He said pointing in my direction.

Great, none of these guys were ever going to trust me again. The question that was still remaining in my mind was what they were going to do with me. They could have dumped me off anywhere a long time ago, but I was still here. My first guess was that because they didn't trust me they wanted to get me as far away from the police as possible. It gave them a bigger head start. I was thinking so I wasn't really paying attention to what Michael was saying. The only thing I was able to hear was that they were heading for some town called Oswego. What awaited us there I had no idea.


	5. Chapter 5

Oswego was one of the smallest towns I had ever been to. And frankly, I didn't know why the hell we were even here. We made our way quickly through the town and I saw a few small businesses and several houses. This must be what simple living is like. The biggest building I saw was for some storage company. As soon as we entered the tiny town, we were leaving. I thought Michael had said that we need to go to Oswego, why were we just passing through?

Michael directed his brother to a small dirt path just outside of town. If you didn't know it was there, then you probably wouldn't even notice it. We drove through the trees until we came upon an old ramshackle building. Michael wanted us to go here? Lincoln put the car in park and they started heading towards the building. They were all so eager to trust and follow Michael without asking questions. I slowly climbed out of the back seat, and followed behind. We walked to the back of the building where there was some sort of a garage door. It had a padlock on it, but that didn't seem to faze Michael at all. He march right up to it, and punched it some sort of key. The padlock fell into the dirt and he lifted the door up.

I didn't know what I was expecting to be there when the doors went up, but I was a little shocked to just see a couple of empty trash cans. I guess I was expecting like a car, or something bigger than just trash cans. They started moving into the garage and I was the last one in.

"Shut the door." Ordered Michael.

I raised one of my eyebrows for a second at Michael, but slowly pulled down the door. Michael reached down into the trash can and started pulling out shovels. I instantly panicked and backed up towards the door. This is why they were keeping me around. They were going to kill me and bury me. I weighed my options: I could run and see how far I could get, but that would only get me in more trouble if I got caught. I could try to fight them off, but I doubted that I could take Lincoln or C-note. I decided that the only thing I could try to do is talk them out of it.

My terror increased when I realized that they all had shovels except for me. They were definitely going to kill me. I thought that Michael was a better person than that, but I figured he was willing to do anything to make sure that they didn't get caught. I was just staring wide eyed when Michael stood by me to open the door. I was thinking about how and where they were going to kill me. I had my mind made up that Abruzzi would be the one to do it. I hoped and prayed that I could talk him out of it.

We all walked in a single file line back on that dirt path for a little while. I just stared at the ground the whole time. One of the things that hurt the most was that I would never get to say goodbye to Tweener. I wondered if he would be able to move on and meet someone else. Just the thought made my sick. We had turned off the dirt path and I looked up to see a small graveyard.

Oh my God, they were going to bury me alive in a graveyard. My breathing rate started to pick up, and now I was seriously considering running. Michael moved ahead the rest of us to a specific graveyard. He smiled when he read the name. That must be the spot. The others gathered around the grave, and I was the last one to join. I peered over to see that the grave read RIP E. CHANCE WOODS. I thought I might be sick at the thought of lying next to a dead person. I looked up at Michael with pleading eyes.

"Don't do this."

They all looked at me for a moment before Michael stabbed the shovel into the dirt. The rest of the guys continued to dig up the grave at a fast pace. I was trying to fight back the tears as I watched them dig. Maybe they wouldn't dig all the way to the body. I stepped forward and peered into the hole. Suddenly, Michal stopped digging.

"That's deep enough."

They pulled Michael out of the hole and together they pulled out two black bags. My heart rate started to increase as I realized they were going to kill me first and cover me with the bags before burying me. I stared with confusion as I saw that the two bags were full of something. Michael quickly pulled open the bag and started pulling out clothing. He started passing out outfits for the guys.

"Get changed quickly."

I just stared with my mouth hanging open when I discovered that he had hid these clothes here. They weren't going to kill. I immediately bent over grabbing my stomach and started to laugh. The guys were staring at me like I was crazy, but I couldn't stop laughing. I actually convinced myself that they were going to kill me. How stupid could I be?

"Are you alright Laney?" Michael asked.

I nodded my head at Michael, but I was still giggling.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

I turned my head to look at Michael and the rest of the guys, but got caught staring wide eyed when they were all standing without their shirts on. I felt my face starting to flush and I quickly turned my head away. It normally wouldn't be a big deal, but let's face it, those men are extremely good looking. I gave them a few minutes to get dressed, and I spent the time looking at the ground, the sky, the trees, the graves, anything.

I finally looked back their way when they were all dressed. The guys were quite a sight except for Michael and Lincoln. I smiled especially at Abruzzi's pants being way too short. I started to walk over to them and realized that I was still in my muddy, bloody prison uniform. I stopped right in front of them and folded my arms across my chest. They looked at me with shocked eyes.

"Sorry Laney, I uh… didn't anticipate having a girl with us," said Michael apologetically.

Still with my arms folded, I bit my lip and stared at Michael for a second. I wanted this moment to make them all feel guilty. Before I could crack, I heard a vehicle pulling up behind me. The guy's eyes widened and I turned my head to see a big, black SUV pull into the cemetery. I squinted my eyes because I recognized those kinds of vehicles. They looked almost like the kind that the FBI drove around. Someone pulled on my hand and started tugging me along. I picked up my pace a little and soon all of us were hiding behind some trees and bushes. I was hiding behind one of the trees because I still wanted to watch this vehicle. The vehicle just suddenly stopped and both doors opened. My breath caught when I saw that my father came out of the driver's side. My jaw dropped when out of the passenger seat was none other than Agent Mahone.

"Oh. My. God." I whispered.

We all watched as Mahone walked right up to the grave we were just digging in and started inspecting it. How did he know exactly where to go? The guys didn't need to see anything else and they took off running. Michael I stayed watching this guy, both of us were shocked but for different reasons.

"Michael that's…" I started.

Mahone and my father both looked up and saw Michael and I just looking back at them. We both took off running and I could hear the footsteps behind us. We dodged over bushes and fallen trees to try and outrun these two. I couldn't let myself get caught either. I had come too far to just call it quits now. I needed to see this through with these guys. Michael and I pulled out of the trees and were now running across the railroad tracks. We had completely lost track of the others. Good to know they had waited on us. We kept running until we were right back in Oswego. There were actually people walking about now, and we tried to blend in to the crowd.

I didn't know how well of a job I was doing of blending in because I was still in my prison uniform, but I wasn't making a scene. I stole a glance behind me and my father and Mahone were just making it into town. We needed to find a place to hide and fast. I was too busy staring at my dad and Michael quickly pulled on my arm yanking me out of sight. We ran down an alleyway and made it to this old barn where we decided to hide out.

Michael was desperately looking around trying to find his brother, but he didn't realize that we had a whole bunch of other problems right now. I was breathing so hard that my chest was heaving up and down and I had to put my hand to my forehead. We hadn't even escaped for 24 hours and they already brought in Mahone. There was something going on here. Michael was still pacing back and forth, and I rushed over to him and grabbed his arm.

"Michael, do you know who that was?" I asked.

He looked at me confused and shook his head. How had they never heard of this guy?

"Well one of them was my dad, but…" Michael cut me off.

"Your father? You are going to turn us in aren't you Laney?" Michael spat angrily.

"What? No my father he isn't the problem. Michael that is Agent Mahone, possibly the greatest FBI agent ever."

Michael raised his eyebrows like he didn't get the big deal. I ran my fingers through my hair annoyed that he wasn't understanding.

"Every agent in training wants to be like him. He was on the hunt for the greatest serial killer ever, Oscar Shales. They were at a battle of wits, and no matter how close Mahone got, Shales was one step ahead. Then Shales just disappeared. It was almost mysterious."

Michael was looking at me with curiosity written all over his face. Great, I had just sparked his interest in Mahone, and knowing Michael he would probably pursue it. If he was going to be so stupid, then he was going to get himself caught.

"Don't you understand Michael? Mahone doesn't give up, ever. If he is on the hunt for us, then we are going to have be a whole lot more careful, or it's over."


	6. Chapter 6

Michael didn't want to waste any more time separated from his brother. We left the barn and quietly headed back to town. I was still terrified that my father and Mahone were still looking for us, and going into town was too dangerous. Michael didn't seem to be understanding what I was telling him about this man, and that he would not give up until we were all caught. But Michael's bond to his brother outweighed his fear, and I supposed I would do just about anything to reunite with Tweener.

We passed quickly through town, and Michael took me to a small park. How was this not dangerous? There were families at the park that could easily recognize us, and especially since I was in my prison uniform. But Michael was just sitting on my some bench just watching the people. I had absolutely no idea how this was going to help find his brother.

He was particularly watching this one family trying to set up for a picnic. I was trying to figure out what he was thinking, but delving into the mind of Scofield was pretty much pointless. You never quite knew what he was thinking. I looked over at the wife folding out their blanket when she looked up at me. I gave her a smile, and at first she returned it, but it faded as she started to inspect me. I became self-conscious and dropped my gaze to the ground kicking my feet in the dirt. Michael noticed that something was going on and he quickly stood up. I thought we were finally going to leave, but he walked right up to me and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist.

What the hell was he doing? Now was not the time to be giving me a hug. I felt the softness of his clean clothes, and he smelled wonderful. I wished that I could say the same about me. He buried his face in my neck, and this was starting to get a little too touchy for me. I mean it felt nice and everything, but it wasn't Tweener. I looked past Michael and that woman had stopped looking at me. Michael leaned in close to my ear.

"Start heading back towards the barn, I will meet you there later." He said.

He pulled back from the hug, and I looked at him with a confused look, but I didn't argue. I turned around and slowly started to head down the sidewalk. Michael just regained his seat and continued watching the people. I rolled my eyes and continued on my walk. I should have been grateful that I had a moment to myself to think. I needed to think about my course of action. I heard a crunch at my feet, and I looked down to see that I was standing on a newspaper. I looked curiously at the front page. The search was out for the Fox River eight and a suspected hostage. I lifted my foot to see that the suspected hostage was me. I leaned over and picked up the newspaper and began to read the article:

_The eight most wanted men in the country. Arguably the eight most dangerous men out in society. They escaped last night by going through the medical wing and climbing over the wall. What has happened to our prison systems today that makes it so easy for these inmates to escape? How is it that one man was able to outsmart an entire prison system? Michael Scofield may indeed be smart enough to hatch an entire scheme as elaborate as an escape plan, but does the intelligence borderline insanity? He was convinced of his brother's (Burrows) innocence, even when all the evidence pointed against him. Only a man with a deep psychosis could not see the reality that everyone else around him could see._

_And maybe we all could understand his reasoning a little better had he not taken 6 other dangerous men with him. Either Scofield is a man easily manipulated, or his entire agenda was to cause a mass breakout as a cover for his brother's escape. Now people should be worried because cons like John Abruzzi and Theodore Bagwell are out on the streets, and very well may go on a killing spree. There is already one death on their hands. Fellow inmate Charles Westmoreland (rumored D.B. Cooper) was found dead in the medical wing just minutes after the breakout. Reports say he had suffered a fatal stab wound. Our greatest hope for this nightmare to be solved is the help of federal agent Alexander Mahone. He was experience in tracking down killers, and the public puts their utter faith in him._

_ "These men are criminals, and they only know how to behave like criminals. They are wanted fugitives, and they can never get a job, buy a car, do anything without being flagged. It will lead them to more criminal activity just to survive and it will be like reading a map to get to them," said Mahone earlier today at a press conference._

_But perhaps the most tragic thing of all is the fact that these men have taken an innocent person with them. A young federal agent, Laney Collins, was sent to Fox River undercover a few months ago as a fellow inmate. Details about her assignment are not being revealed. Somehow she discovered the escape, but agent Mahone has surmised that she has been taken hostage, and that the fugitives believe they are safe keeping another agent with them. _

_ "The last time I spoke with agent Collins she had everything under control, but I never suspected that things would turn out the way they did. We are doing everything in our power to get her back safely and bring these cons to justice," commented the young agent's father Collins. _

_We hope that wherever you are Laney that you are safe, and our prayers are with you for your return. If anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of any fugitives or their suspected hostage do not hesitate to call the Bureau and ask for Agent Mahone. (More details about the Fox River eight on page A6)._

I finished reading the article and I dropped the newspaper back on the sidewalk. I had to admit the beginning of it made me laugh talking about all of the dangerous cons that had escaped. Sure Abruzzi and Tbag were dangerous, but the rest of us were pretty harmless. The part I found most interesting was the whole bit about me. First of all, it totally outed me a federal agent. If I had still been working undercover this would have completely put me at risk. The next part I found interesting was that it was determined that I was a hostage in this situation. I was curious to know if my father had anything to do with that. I doubted that he actually cared if I was in any danger or not. He was just trying to save his reputation in case I went rogue.

It made me start to think about what I was actually doing in this situation. I was definitely not a hostage anymore since we lost Tbag. I don't think I was completely with them either because I wanted to bring Tbag back to justice, but I didn't mind if the ones like Michael, Lincoln, and Sucre escaped safely. I really just wanted to get to the bottom of whoever set up Lincoln for the murder of the Vice President's brother. I might be able to uncover something with my connections.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I was expecting it to be Mahone or my dad, but it was only Michael. I raised my eyebrow when I saw him holding a picnic basket. Did he steal that from the family, and more importantly was their food in it? I stood up and started walking behind Michael. He didn't seem to notice the newspaper I had set down, and I didn't bother to bring it up. There was a paragraph or two just about Michael, and it basically was saying that he was a genius, but he was criminally insane. That probably didn't make you feel real good about yourself. So we just walked in silence as we made our way back to the barn.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys here is chapter 7 for you! I have to apologize if my first few chapters seem boring because I think they are... I promise I am just trying to set everything up, but the exciting is coming soon! So hang in there with me and enjoy =)**

We could hear them arguing from outside the barn. Michael dropped his eyes to the ground and started shaking his head. I was trying to figure out how they ended up in the barn anyway. Just our random luck I guessed. They were shouting so loud that someone would surely hear us, and then we would all be screwed. I was trying to make out the voices, and it sounded like C-note and Lincoln. C-note was sure causing a lot of problems lately, and I was beginning to think that he was more trouble than he was worth.

Michael angrily started moving into the barn and followed right behind him. The shouting was getting louder and I was afraid that the fists were going to start flying before long. Michael was going to interceded before that happened.

"Hey!" he shouted agitated.

They all looked with shocked faces over to Michael. I was looking at Michael with a shocked face. He didn't raise his voice very often, but when he did it usually turned everyone's heads. He didn't say anything else, though, and just started heading further into the barn. I followed behind him, but as we passed the others Abruzzi stepped right in my way.

"Where have you two been, Bella?" he asked.

"Oh you know, we just decided to take a stroll since it was such a nice day," I mocked.

I knew I shouldn't have said it, but it felt so good to say it. Abruzzi reached out and grabbed ahold of my cheeks pulling me up close to him.

"Watch your mouth, bitch." He hissed.

I jerked back away from Abruzzi and rubbed my jaw a few times. This whole dance where I smart off and then he grabs or hits me was getting old.

"We were still running from Mahone and my father," I blurted before thinking.

Sucre, C-note, and Lincoln suddenly approached me and they were all surrounding me. I shrunk back intimidated with them all surrounding me.

"Did you say your father?" asked C-note.

I rolled my eyes and nodded my head. Couldn't they see that my father wasn't the problem in this situation.

"It's Mahone you should worry about," I said.

They were all looking at me curiously, but I didn't want to have to explain this all again. Luckily I wouldn't have to say anything because Michael came to my rescue. He held up the picnic basket and shook it a little revealing food and drink inside. The guys immediately forgot what they were doing and bolted for the picnic basket and food. I rolled my eyes and followed them into the other room.

The scent of the food instantly hit me. Michael had just opened the bucket of fried chicken, and my mouth was starting to water. There was also a bowl of fresh apples, oranges, and grapes, with bottles of beer to drink. I can't even remember the last time I had a good beer to drink. I smiled to myself because this was way better than the slop we had been eating for the past few months.

I stayed where I was standing because I wasn't sure if I could just help myself to the food. I had a feeling that Abruzzi wouldn't like it very much, and I really didn't want to start trouble. I just held onto my other arm and bit my lip listening to my stomach growl. They all served themselves a plateful, and I thought that Abruzzi might eat all the chicken by himself; what a pig. They all started chowing down, and it was making my stomach growl louder. I shut my eyes trying to concentrate on something else.

"Laney?" Michael said snapping me out of my daze, "come and get something to eat."

I remained standing where I was and my glaze flicked over to Abruzzi. He was scarfing his face down with chicken, so I decided to help myself before they all changed their minds. I walked over and put the fruit on my plate and grabbed a small piece of chicken. What I really wanted to get into was the beer. I popped the cap a bottle and quickly started to down it. The cool liquid slid down my throat, and although it didn't taste the best, it was probably one of the most satisfying drinks ever. I had just been served water in Fox River, so anything with a little taste was an improvement. I drank it fast, though, because when I stopped my head started spinning and I thought I was going to be sick.

"Damn, take it easy there," teased Sucre.

I gave him a side glance to let him know that he wasn't funny, and nibbled on a grape. I think Abruzzi was on his fourth piece of chicken. Michael and Lincoln had walked off to chat again, and I wondered if Michael would bring up anything I had warned him about. I turned my attention back to the others when I heard Tweener's name mentioned. My heart fluttered a little at just the mention of his name and I had to hide my smile a little. Sucre was wondering how the others were holding up. They think that Tweener got a head start for going the opposite direction.

"I imagine that Bagwell is probably dead, he was bleeding pretty bad." Said Abruzzi confidently.

I looked up at him with a disgusted look. It was still so hard to imagine that he was capable of cutting off someone's hand. I thought back to that and the terrified look at Tbag's face. He was usually so arrogant to the point that I wanted to scream, but seeing him like that made me feel sorry for him. I hoped that he was able to find the help that he needed.

Michael called out our names and told us that he wanted to speak to us. I set my plate down and rolled onto my feet waiting for the others to do the same. They all just remained sitting looking at each other skeptically. They definitely didn't trust Michael and Lincoln, and they weren't sure of what was to come. I scoffed at them and made my way outside. The sun was bright in the sky and I squinted my eyes when I first stepped out of the barn. Michael and Lincoln were standing close together and they had just finished discussing something. I didn't want to interrupt so I moved slowly towards them.

I was standing behind Michael when the other three decided to venture outside. They were looking curiously between the three of us, and I rolled my eyes at the thought that Michael, Lincoln, and I could be plotting against them. Michael started handing everyone cash.

"It's time we go our separate ways, and this should be enough to get you started."

Everyone eagerly took their money, except for Abruzzi. He was just smirking suspiciously at Michael. Every now and then his gaze would flicker over to me. I was trying to figure out what exactly he wanted from Michael. I only had to think for a short time. There is only one thing Abruzzi has ever wanted from Michael.

"I'm not giving you the location of Fibonacci," stated Michael.

Abruzzi chuckled to himself almost like he expected that answer to come from Michael. He looked over to me again and even though he was keeping a smirk on his face, I could see the sadness in his eyes. He so desperately wanted to return to his family with honor and start his business again, but they would never accept him without Fibonacci. It was those moments that made me realize how much I actually cared about Abruzzi and the others. The pieces of them that weren't the criminals, but the fathers and brothers and friends.

C-note was the first to step forward and reached out his hand for Michael to take. After all, without Michael all of them would still be in Fox River. They didn't exchange words, but just firmly held onto each other's hands. He looked over at me briefly, but he didn't smile. He was clearly still angry about the whole 'I was really working under cover the whole time, and I everything I told you was a lie' thing. I, however, gave him a small smile and I really hoped that he was able to meet up with his wife and daughter and stay out of trouble.

Sucre stepped up to Michael with a big grin on his face. He shook hands with his former cell mate and I thought I could see the hint of sadness in his eyes too. They released their grips and moved forward to embrace in a small hug. Just watching those two brought a big grin to my face. Sucre broke apart from Michael and looked over at me with a smile.

"Stay out of trouble mami," he said with a wink.

I smiled again and nodded my head. He had to be one of the nicest guys I had met in Fox River, but bad luck just seemed to follow him around. I hoped that he would be able to find Maricruz and they could raise their baby together. I thought that he would make a great father. Sucre and C-note both started walking together, but Abruzzi was just standing there staring at the three of us. He wasn't going to say anything to us, and he sure as hell wasn't going to shake Michael's hand. I wished that he would at least say something to me. I understand if he was still angry with me for what I did, but we still went through a lot together that he couldn't just ignore. Abruzzi just smirked again and turned to walk away. I bit my lip and pushed past Michael hurrying after Abruzzi.

"John," I called out.

He turned around to look at me, and I ran into him wrapping my arms around his giant torso. At first, he didn't respond, and I didn't know what to do. Maybe he would never forgive me for what I did.

"Were you really not going to say goodbye?" I whispered.

I heard him let out a sigh and he slowly wrapped his strong arms around my waist. I smiled to myself.

"Oh, Bella, it really is too hard to stay mad at you." He said pulling me away to look up at him. "Here take this, and if you need anything just give me a call."

I reached out my hand and took the piece of paper from him. It had a phone number on it, and I knew that Abruzzi wasn't stupid enough to give me a number that could be traced back to him. He was putting a lot of trust in me by giving me this. I smiled at him one last time, and he turned the other direction and walked away. I turned back the other way and Michael and Lincoln were still watching me. I tucked the paper into one of my pockets and stopped right by Michael.

"What are we going to do with her?" asked Lincoln.

I looked over to Michael thinking the exact same thing. He was in charge of this whole plan, and if he didn't want me around then I would go my own way.

"It's her choice to do what she wants," Michael stated.

Great, now all eyes were on me for my decision. I knew that I should have taken the opportunity to leave, and I would regret what I was about to do, but something inside of me was pushing me to stay. I sighed before I let out my answer.

"Where are we off to?"

Michael smiled and I think that was the answer he was looking for.

"We are headed to the courthouse for Lincoln's son."


	8. Chapter 8

First, we had to get a car. That didn't seem to faze Michael too much, and he was leading us to an exact location. He led us right to an underground parking garage. I recognized the garage as a place for business people to park their cars off of the street. Why were we here? Michael knew exactly where we were going, and on the second level was a little car waiting for us. The first thing I noticed was that this car was absolutely disgusting. There was so much dust and dirt covering the car that I didn't even know what color it was.

"Michael how long has this car been here?"

He looked to me and smirked before taking out a set of keys and started to unlock the door. He reached inside and pulled out a cell phone and tossed it over to Lincoln.

"Call the courthouse and find out about LJ," he ordered.

Lincoln started to dial the phone, and Michael tossed disinfectant wipes in my direction. He wanted me to clean off his car? I gave him a look that told him I wasn't going to be his personal maid and clean the car, but he only laughed at me and disappeared back in the car. I let out a frustrated sigh and roughly pulled out a wipe and started cleaning off the dirt. It was absolutely disgusting and one wipe didn't get me very far. I was already on my fifth one and I wasn't even done with the front of the car. I had fully cleaned the windshield and Michael so kindly waved at me from the other side. I made a face at him and ripped out another wipe.

Lincoln hung up the phone and opened the passenger door to get in. What the hell was this? I was not just going to clean their car by myself while they made their plans inside. I tossed the container on the ground and stormed over Lincoln's side and held onto the door firmly.

"Care to help out a lady?" I asked with a fake grin.

"Don't make a scene Laney we are being watched," said Michael looking the opposite direction.

I slowly turned my gaze that way, and sure enough some business man was looking at the three of us. He was probably actually looking at this filthy excuse for a car. I turned my attention back towards the two brothers and raised my eyebrows at them.

"It's fine, just get in the back," Michael told me.

I wrinkled my nose at the thought of the inside of the car being as dirty as the outside, but I opened the back door and climbed in. Michael started the engine and quickly started driving. Oh my God, there weren't even seat belts in the back seat. I slouched down in the back seat and just hoped that wherever we were going wouldn't take long to get there. I guess lucky for me we were only driving for 15 minutes before Michael was pulling in somewhere. I sat up and looked out the windshield to see where we were at. It just looked like some random convenience store, and I raised my eyebrow at Michael.

"You can make the call from here Linc, while I run in and get something."

Before I could even ask a question, Michael was already out the door and quickly moving into the store. I couldn't even ask Lincoln because he had already dialed the phone and it was ringing. Lucky for me he put it on speaker. A voice I didn't recognize answered.

"This is Nick Savrine, bar code 56437, calling to speak to my client LJ," said Lincoln.

Was he insane trying to call his son? If they traced it we could all be busted quickly. The unknown voice must have bought it because there was a rustling and a younger voice started talking on the phone. That had to be his son.

"Do you know who this is?" asked Lincoln.

"Yes," LJ said excitedly, but then cleared his throat, "my lawyer right?"

They just chit chatted for a while about how LJ was holding up and I could tell how guilty Lincoln felt. They all had the idea that whoever it was that set up Lincoln was now setting up LJ. If they found him guilty, he would be sent off to an adult facility. Lincoln wasn't about to let that happen anytime soon.

"Some Fed came to talk to me today," LJ said.

My attention instantly perked up and I leaned in closer to Lincoln. I asked him to find out the name of the agent.

"Some guy named Mahone I think. He wanted my help in trying to bring my dad in."

I fell back in my seat staring wide eyed. Agent Mahone had made his way to Lincoln's son. These guys had no idea how dangerous this was getting with Mahone on the hunt. He was starting to get one step ahead of our plans before we even planned them.

"Listen to me LJ this is important," said Lincoln, "on the third, look out for Otis right. Until then keep your head up."

He repeated the phrase and I gave him a look like he was speaking a different language. What the hell did that mean? The third, was that a date? I had no clue what Otis right was, and if I was so confused, how was LJ supposed to figure it out? After LJ said he would remember Lincoln quickly hung up the phone, and right at the same time Michael came back with some sort of sack. He didn't say anything and I didn't bother asking. He quickly started the car and we were off, but not before Lincoln tossed the phone out of the window.

Michael said that we had one more stop to make, but I couldn't concentrate on anything else besides what LJ said about Mahone.

"Hey Michael," I said quietly, "LJ said he got a visit today from Agent Mahone."

Michael met my gaze through the rearview mirror and I could see the look of worry in his eyes. He was thinking the same thing that I was. Lincoln was the only one that wasn't following along, and asked who Mahone was.

"He was the agent with my father at the cemetery. He is a bigger threat than any of you are realizing."

Neither one of the brothers answered me, and I hoped that they were starting to understand the danger they were in. Again, we weren't on the road very long before Michael was pulling over at yet another convience store. This time Michael wanted Lincoln and I to wait outside the door while he did his business inside. Michael quickly stepped inside the store and Lincoln and I got out of our seats and stood by the door. I don't even know why we had to wait by the door, but usually when Michael said to do something everyone did it no questions asked. I stepped out of the way of some woman going on a jog with her dog. She gave me a smile, but I think her whole world stopped when she made eye contact with Lincoln. Of course like most girls, she gave him her best flirty grin and he returned the smile. I was teasing him by looking at him with a raised eyebrow, and he just shrugged me off.

I took a glance behind me and the girl was still standing there and she was pretending to stretch. Boy did she have it bad. She kept looking back and forth between Lincoln and I when suddenly her smile faded. She looked away from us. Shit, she recognized us. I looked to Lincoln with a worried face, and even though he was pretending not to notice I could tell he was worried too. The worry turned into panic when the police car turned down our street. Lincoln didn't hesitate and moved into the store, and I was left standing outside. That is until the girl started flagging down the car. I cursed at the bitch under my breath and moved into the store.

The owner of the store was a pleasant man. He grinned at my entrance and asked how I was doing. I smiled back and if I wasn't in a state of panic I probably would have started a conversation. I found Michael and Lincoln in the back of the store whispering to each other. I stepped up to them, and we heard the bell of the door ring. It was even worse when the owner greeted the officer. I looked wide eyed as we all started moving to the back of the store.

We found a back door and the three of us slipped out easily. Now if we could just get back to the car this whole mess would be behind us. As we rounded the corner of the building we stopped dead in our tracks to look at the two police cars surrounding our car. Lincoln and I were reading to start running the other direction, but Michael wasn't moving. We practically had to drag him to get him to start moving. He looked like someone had just punched him in the gut.

"You don't understand, we need that car," he whined.

"It's just a car Michael," I said.

He shook his head, but didn't argue with me. Lucky for us the courthouse wasn't far and we could just run the rest of the way. Michael still had his bag of stuff that he stole from the store, and hopefully that would be enough. I hope what they had planned didn't involve any violence. I didn't want to be involved with people getting killed. If I knew Michael like I thought I did, I doubt it would come to any deaths. We turned off the street and came face to face with the biggest building in town; the courthouse. This building was huge, and I had no idea how Michael planned to find LJ, or how to get him out for that matter. Lincoln must have been thinking the same thing.

"Michael if you get caught and sent back to Fox River, I am not helping you escape," he said.

Even I couldn't help but smile at that. I couldn't imagine seeing Lincoln coming up with a brilliant escape plan like Michael did.

"After all, I am the brains, you are the brute," Michael responded.

"What does that make me?" I asked.

"The beauty," they both responded.

I laughed and we hurried up behind the courthouse. The fire escape led all the way up to the roof and that is where Michael and Lincoln were going to enter and exit with LJ. That was if the plan went off without a hitch. I don't think one of Michael's plans ever went down as he originally planned. They both moved to the bottom ladder and suddenly I stopped. They both looked at me confused.

"I think I should probably stay down here and keep lookout or something." I said weakly.

God, I detested my fear of heights. But I titled my head upwards and felt queasy just thinking about standing up on the roof. I looked back to Michael and Lincoln pleadingly, and after mocking me they said I could wait down here. I watched them climb all the way to the top and I only looked back down when I started to feel queasy again. I didn't know how long it was going to take for them to get LJ, but I hoped that it wouldn't take long. If I was just standing outside the courthouse for too long then I would start to draw attention. I tried to find a spot where I wouldn't be easily noticed and I sat down resting my back against the building. I realized it had been almost 24 hours since I had slept, and I was exhausted. We had been practically running nonstop, and my adrenaline had been high. It wasn't all that surprising that I was only sitting for a few minutes before I fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys! A couple of you guys were expressing that you were hoping for a Tweener scene soon...so I hope this will satisfy you! Enjoy =)**_  
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_We were all standing on a dock by the lake. It was some sort of wedding, but I couldn't see the bride and groom. I didn't even know where I was. I looked down and I was in some sort of gray bridesmaid dress. I was holding light yellow flowers in my hands that matched my light yellow shoes. It felt like some warm summer day in the country and the wind was blowing my hair back. I looked around for familiar faces, but I was surrounded by a big crowd. _

_It was strange because they all had their eyes on me. They shouldn't be looking at me it wasn't my wedding day. I could faintly hear soft music starting to play and everyone turned their heads in the opposite direction. I smiled because I would finally get to see who the bride was. I kept staring in the right direction, but I never saw a white dress. Somebody was definitely heading in my direction, and I gasped when I saw Tweener step out of the crowd. He was wearing a gray shirt and a light yellow tie. He stepped up to me grinning and held onto my wrists. Wait, were we getting married? He led me to the edge of the dock, and I could smell the water out in front of us, and honestly I kind of wanted to jump in. I looked back at Tweener, and my heart did a couple of flips. He did look handsome, and somehow I didn't mind the wedding so much. _

_Someone next to us cleared their throat, and we both looked at the preacher. I had to do a double take to see the Tbag standing before us with a Bible in his hands. I had to bit my lip to keep from laughing at the sight of Tbag standing there looking all serious at us. I looked back to Tweener and smiled at him, and he eagerly grinned back. _

_ "David 'Tweener' Apolskis do you take sweet Laneykins to be your wife?" _

_Did he just call me Laneykins at my own wedding? I would have to get back at him for that later. I looked back to Tweener and he eagerly said his 'I do'. It made me giggle I dropped my eyes to the sparkling water. _

_ "Laneykins do you take your Tweener to be your husband?"_

_I looked back to Tweener who was grinning at me waiting to hear my answer. The hush of the crowd was chilling as I heard the wind blow across the water. I thought about what my life would be like if I spent the rest of it with Tweener by my side. There was no way I could hide my big grin as I squeezed Tweener's hands tighter._

_ "I do."_

_He smiled and pulled my arms forward so I was forced to embrace him in a hug. He titled my head up to meet his gaze and lowered him face to meet mine with a passionate kiss. I could hear the applause behind us and I never wanted to stop kissing him. I guess I was now Mrs. Apolskis. I pulled away and was smiling up at him when I heard a shot ring out. I gasped out a short breath and looked down to see dark red soaking through my dress at my abdomen. I looked back up and Tweener had vanished. I looked around and everyone had vanished. I dropped to my knees on the dock and I put my hand up to the blood again. _

_Someone was coming towards me and I hoped that maybe Tweener was coming back to help me. I saw the shiny shoes first and I lifted my gaze slowly up to the figure standing in front of me. He was pointing the gun at my face, and I was staring up at the face of Agent Mahone. Why did he shoot me? I opened my mouth to ask him, but nothing came out. He didn't say anything either as he cocked his gun._

I jolted awake at the sound of another gun shot. I immediately scrambled to my feet and was internally cursing myself for falling asleep. Another shot rang out and I was frantically searching the roof for any sign of Michael and Lincoln. I sprinted around the other side of the building and Michael and Lincoln were coming out of the front door. I didn't even register what they were doing coming out of the front door before I was sprinting after them. Police officers were chasing us out of the building and shots were flying everywhere. Michael and Lincoln flew to the left and jumped inside of a mail truck. They started the engine and I hurried up and hopped in the door just as he was starting to pull away. Were they really going to leave me? One shot ricocheted off the door and Lincoln fell against the steering wheel. He was wincing and grunting in pain, and it made me wonder if he got hit. We quickly sped away from the courthouse were trying to find the quickest safe haven.

The first thing I noticed was that LJ wasn't with them in the truck. Something went wrong inside and they weren't able to get him out.

"What happened?" I asked as I fell over to my left because Lincoln veered the truck of the main roads.

"Mahone was all over us," said Michael, "somehow he is figuring everything out about our plans."

I told them that they needed to be careful around Mahone. Now maybe they were starting to take me a little more seriously. Lincoln quickly turned down a dirt path and put the truck into park. The three of us climbed out and started sprinting because it wouldn't take the police long to track down the truck. We made a sharp turn and I heard Lincoln cry out in pain and he collapsed onto the ground. Michael and I quickly picked him up and found a place to rest for a minute. Lincoln stretched out his leg and I could see the hole from where the bullet entered, and the blood was running down his leg. The smell was getting to me and I had to cover my mouth and walk a little ways a way.

"We can't outrun them like this," said Lincoln, "we need a place to stay."

My head snapped up and I turned my attention back to Lincoln. I knew that the courthouse was a familiar area, but I was too afraid to bring it up. I wanted to keep her away from all of this danger as much as I could. But now that Lincoln was practically bleeding to death and the police were on our heels I didn't see any other choice. I just hoped that she didn't kill me.

"I know where we can go."


	10. Chapter 10

We walked together to the old familiar apartment building. I knew exactly where I was going, and she was going to kill me for this. Michael was practically carrying Lincoln, and he wouldn't shut up about that car being gone. We had to go up two flights of stairs and her apartment was on the right. Number 216 to be exact. I recognized the door instantly with her pink and green welcome sign on the front. I turned around just short of the door and pointed at Michael to stop.

"Let me talk to her first," I pleaded.

He nodded his head and I slowly approached the door. God, I just hoped that she was home today. I lifted my hand and knocked on the door a couple of times. My heart skipped a beat when I heard shuffling around and I could see her shadow underneath the door. I could see her look through her peep hole and I gave her my best smile. I fought back a giggle when I heard her erratically trying to unlock the door. Finally, the door flew open and Melanie came crashing into my arms.

"Oh. My God. Laney." She cried out.

I wrapped my arms around my best friend and tried to fight back the tears welling in my eyes. I was also laughing at the same time. I thought I might never see her again, yet here I was knocking on her door. She pulled away from me looking me up and down.

"They said you were a hostage. How did you…?" she started but her eyes drifted the other direction and she stopped mid-sentence.

To be honest, I was a little surprised she didn't scream. I probably would have if I looked over and to my left were the dangerous cons Scofield and Burrows, and one of them was bleeding out. Her face completely drained of color and she opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She looked back at me with a shocked face, and I tried to put my hands up to explain but she bolted back into her apartment.

I chased after her and she and I both knew she couldn't try to hide anywhere. I had stayed here so many times that I could find my way around with a blindfold on. She just stopped right in the middle of her living room and was looking at me with terrified eyes. I approached her slowly and Michael and Lincoln were right behind me.

"Melanie I can explain."

"You're not a hostage, are you?" she interrupted.

I closed my mouth unsure of what to say. It was pretty obvious that I wasn't doing anything against my will, but that didn't mean I went along with the entire escape. She was just standing there waiting for my answer and I heard Lincoln grunt in pain.

"Look Melanie, I promise you I will explain everything, but for right now can he sit down?" I said gesturing to Lincoln.

Her eyes widened and she looked past me to Lincoln and Michael.

"They aren't here to hurt you, we just needed a safe place to help Lincoln," I said.

She looked at me and nodded her head. Michael quickly brought Lincoln over and rested him onto the couch. He propped his leg up and started lifting up his pant leg. Michael started rattling off supplies he would need and I hurriedly stepped into the kitchen. Melanie was too afraid to be in the other room alone and followed me. I was busy grabbing towels, pain killers, and some alcohol that I nearly ran her over.

"What the hell is going on?" she hissed.

I didn't answer her, and instead moved past her to hand the stuff to Michael. They had Lincoln's pants rolled up and the bullet wound was pretty nasty and he was bleeding everywhere. I squatted down so I was resting next to Michael.

"How bad is it?" I asked.

"If we don't tend to it now, then we won't make it out of Illinois."

I sucked in my breath. That was not good news. I knew that Michael was no Dr. Tancredi, but hopefully he was smart enough to figure out how to help Lincoln.

"LANEY!" Melanie shouted.

The three of us looked over at her with shocked expressions. Melanie wasn't one to typically raise her voice and be upset about, so when she did I knew that something was seriously wrong. I stood up immediately and took her by the hand leading her into the hallway. I knew that she wanted answers, but now was not the time to spill everything that had happened. She started pulling against me and I let go of her wrist.

"Why are you with them?" she asked.

"It's not like it sounds. I tried to stop them in Fox River I did."

"You should have stopped them the moment you found out about it," she hissed.

I rolled my eyes. Worrying about what I should have done was not going to fix anything now.

"They did take me as a hostage out of the prison originally, but when they all went their separate ways I stayed behind with Michael and Lincoln."

"Why?"

"I felt like I had too. Something is going on and Lincoln's case is so suspicious. I felt like they needed my help in figuring it all out."

"Well you can't do that Laney, you are a federal agent for Christ's sake. What would your father say?"

"I stopped caring what my father would say a while ago. I'm sorry I brought you into this, but please you can't say anything."

She watched me for a moment, I guess she was trying to decide whether to trust me or not. We had been through so much together, and when she finally let out a sigh I knew that she wasn't going to say anything. Hey, we were best friends for a reason.

"You look like shit," she admitted with a smile.

I grinned and gave her a light push. I told her to let me take a shower and she could ask the guys anything she wanted. I could tell that made her nervous, but she agreed. I jumped for joy with the idea of getting to take a decent shower and put on clean clothes. I stepped into her bathroom and shut the door behind me. Instantly, I was hit with the smell of apple blossoms. Melanie loved this scent and had tons of candles spread all over the house. I moved across the bathroom and noticed the light green picture frame sitting on top of the toilet. It was a picture of Melanie and me standing on top of a cliff that we had spent the whole day climbing. I remembered that day fondly because we had just graduated high school and we wanted to take a trip before we started college. I lifted the picture frame and looked at our younger selves briefly. I moved over to the shower and turned the water on. I let the water run under my fingers until I approved of the temperature and turned the shower on. I proceeded to remove my clothing. It proved more difficult than I anticipated because my clothes were caked with mud and blood. I was able to pry my shirt and pants off and was left standing in my undergarments.

I slowly started moving in circles assessing the damage done to my body. I was covered in bruises and scrapes, and there was dried blood everywhere. The sad part was I couldn't even remember what bruises came from where. I slipped off my bra and panties and stepped into the shower. The warm water was like heaven on my body. It was massaging my bruises as I ran my fingers through my hair. I had lost count of the last time I had really washed my hair. The prison shower just never did the job. I looked at her shampoos and soaps and it was all scented of brown sugar and vanilla. All the different scents filled up the bathroom as I finished the rest of my shower. When I turned off the water and lifted back the curtain I noticed a clean towel and fresh clothes resting on the sink.

I was excited to be able to wear something besides a prison uniform. I dried off as best I could and quickly slipped on my black undergarments. I slid the light jeans up onto my hips, and lucky for me Melanie and I were practically the same size. I lifted the soft, cotton white tank top over my head and pulled it down over my torso. I ran a comb through my hair and it was already starting to curl at my shoulder. Finally for the first time in weeks, I was satisfied with my appearance and I walked out the door.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter hasn't gone up sooner...but I hope that the wait will be worth it =D. Enjoy =)**

My damp feet left marks on Melanie's floor as I made my way back into her living room. Lincoln had his leg on propped up on the couch, and to my surprise Melanie was sitting next to him comfortably. I grinned at her and Michael came up behind me with a bag in his hands. He acted like he was going somewhere.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"We are going to get that car back," he stated.

We? As in, Michael and me? I was a little shocked that he would leave Lincoln here, but he must have trusted Melanie. I nodded my head at Michael and went to slip on my shoes. I had no idea why that old dirty car was so important to Michael, but he was not going to let it go until he got it back. I finished tying my shoes and moved over to Melanie. She just looked up at me with curious eyes.

"Are you ok to stay here with Linc?"

She gave me a soft smile and slowly nodded her head. I smiled at her and stepped up to stand by Michael. He reassured Melanie that we wouldn't be long, and I swore I saw her blush a little. Another girl fallen victim to the Michael Scofield charm. I rolled my eyes and pulled Michael out the door. I realized as we started walking across town, however, that I had absolutely no idea where his car was even at. It probably got towed back at that convience store, now we just had to figure out where they towed it too.

"There can't be too many tow places in town," I suggested.

Michael smiled and pointed up towards the sky. My gaze followed his fingers up to a billboard above the buildings that was advertising for a tow company not far from here. I sighed and we started walking down the sidewalk, and I just hoped that the tow place wasn't a far walk. I still wore out from running all night long. Even though the shower did me wonders, what I really needed was some good sleep. Maybe Michael would let us stay at Melanie's for just a night because her bed was incredibly comfortable.

"You smell like vanilla," Michael commented.

I smiled to myself and flipped my hair off of my shoulder. The comment made me think of that day back in Fox River when Tbag had mentioned my scent. God that felt like ages ago

"Better than lilacs."

We hurried across the street and I swore that a man that walked by us had to look at us twice because he thought he recognized us.

"Do you miss Tweener?" Michael asked.

I looked up at him surprised with his random question. To be honest, with everything that had happened at Melanie's, I had sort of forgot about him for a while. Now, I remembered the dream that I had while Michael was in the courthouse. I can't believe that I had married him, or that Tbag had married us, or that whole Mahone shooting me thing.

"Yea, I really do," I admitted. "I love him Michael."

I looked to Michael smiling, but he had a worried look on his face. Maybe he was feeling guilty about sending him away, or he was concerned about my feelings. Either way, I knew how I felt and I knew that I deeply missed and loved Tweener. I have never felt anything as strong as when I was around Tweener, other than my love for Melanie. When I met him something inside me finally felt complete, and now we were separated and something was missing again. I vowed to myself that I would do everything to get him back.

"Do you miss Sara?" I asked Michael.

He looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about, but he couldn't fool me. He could deny it all he wanted, but I knew that his feelings for the doctor were genuine. Maybe at first it was all just an act, but as he spent more time with her I could see him changing, and he grew to care for her.

"I ruined her life Laney," he said.

"You didn't force her to leave the door unlocked, she made a choice Michael. To me she wouldn't have made that choice if she didn't care about you a little."

I thought I saw Michael smile a little, but he quickly hid it. I soon found out that we had pretty much made conversation our whole walk to the tow place, and were quickly coming up to the entrance fence. The main garage was in the back of the yard and I could hear some light rock music coming from the radio. Surrounding the garage, was tons of junky, old cars that probably no one would ever want back in their lives. I certainly didn't want to get Michael's car back, but he said he needed it so here we were. We both looked around to see if could just simply spot the car ourselves, but of course nothing is ever that easy. We were going to have to talk the guy that run this place.

We started moving towards the garage, and I thought I could hear some terrible singing to go along with that rock music, and I was doing my best to hide my smile. Michael stopped me right outside the door and gently took my hand leading to stare at him confused.

"I think we should pretend to be a couple," he stated.

I raised my eyebrow at him, but didn't let of his hand and instead laced my fingers through his for dramatic effect.

"If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do is ask."

He smiled and we entered the garage. The guy that must have been charge was standing there reading a magazine and looked up as we entered. Instantly his eyes went straight to me, and I could tell his eyes were roaming all over my body. Obviously this guy got no action working at this dump. I looked up to Michael who just grinned at me.

"Can I help you?" he asked Michael in a not so friendly tone.

"Yes, we are here to pick up a car," Michael stated obviously. We were in a towing place after all.

The guy turned his gaze back to me and I read that his name tag said Chuck. Somehow the name Chuck suited him, and I gave him my most flirtatious grin. I think he responded with what was supposed to be a sexy smirk, but I ended up just giggling at him. Trying to be as smooth as possible, Chuck was asking Michael about what car we were here for. Michael started rambling off the make and model, a bunch of stuff I had no clue about so I just stood there still smirking at Chuck. I was probably overselling it a little, but he was believing it. Chuck seemed to know what car we were referring to and grabbed a set of keys behind him.

He took us back outside and was muttering on about something I wasn't paying attention too. Michael and I were officially the worst couple ever because we forgot to hold hands on the way out, and were standing so far apart for each other, it looked like we almost hated each other. I really doubted that Chuck minded that though as he brought Michael's car around. It looked like the same piece of trash like the first time I laid eyes on it, but this time it looked worse. Both of the back windows were completely bashed in, and Michael looked as though he could bash Chuck's skull in.

"Here's your car sir," Chuck said like a smart ass.

Michael moved forward and smacked the car with his bare hand. The sound of him hitting the car made both Chuck and I jump.

"What happened to the car? There was something in here and now it's gone!" Michael snapped.

So that's what this whole ordeal is about. It wasn't the car necessarily that Michael was interested in, but whatever was inside.

"Look buddy we are not responsible for anything that happens to the car before it comes to us," Chuck snapped back.

I just stood there watching the two boys got back and forth back and forth, my head snapping in each direction of the conversation. Michael was absolutely fuming and I can count the number of times on one hand that I had seen him this upset. Chuck just didn't seem to give a shit and that only made matters worse. I had honestly had enough of the bickering.

"Michael darling," I said with a fake smile, "this is not dear Chuck's fault. Let's just go fill out the paperwork so we can leave."

They both looked over at me with surprised expressions. Michael probably because I was talking to him like he was my lover, and Chuck probably because I defending him in a flirty way. Nevertheless, they both agreed and we headed back to the garage like I suggested. Chuck had to dig around his disorganized desk a little before pulling out the correct form. Apparently, all Michael had to do was sign the form and we were home free. As soon as Michael picked up the pen, the phone started ringing. It was a very loud ring and I jumped when I heard it.

"Hello," he said winking at me.

I could hear a deep voice on the other line, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Chuck got this weird look on his face.

"Uh…this is Chuck."

I looked over to Michael with a weird look, and he just shrugged his shoulders and signed the paper. I didn't see what he wrote down, but I hoped he didn't sign Michael Scofield down. That would be too easy to flag. Chuck looked back in our direction and for a moment I thought that he looked at us like he knew who we were. But that was impossible. There were no posters of us anywhere in the garage. He smiled in my direction and mouthed that his supervisor was on the phone, and then he turned his back to us. I looked at Michael again with raised eyebrows, and he was standing there with his hands on his hips clearly annoyed.

"Um, yes that's still here."

Michael and I both looked at each. There was something definitely funky going on with this conversation. The voice on the other end of the line was starting to talk louder almost to the point that he was shouting at Chuck. Michael put his finger to his lips and started moving closer to the desk. I stood absolutely still and even tried to quiet my breathing. Chuck was so engrossed in the yelling that he didn't even notice Michael grab the keys right from under him. Michael looked back to me and both started to slowly move out of the garage. We had just made it outside when Chuck looked back at us with wide eyes.

"He got the keys!" he shouted into the phone.

Michael and I both started sprinting to the car, and luckily for us Chuck didn't chase after us. I quickly climbed into the passenger seat, and I think Michael made record time in starting the car and getting us the hell out of that tow place. I was laughing as Chuck was still standing there holding the phone looking dumbfounded. We didn't look back as Michael speedily headed back to Melanie's.


	12. Chapter 12

We pulled in behind the apartment buildings and Michael was out in a hurry changing the license plate. Lincoln and Melanie were quick to come outside, and Lincoln did look better but was still limping around. Melanie had a couple of bags in her hands. She quickly slipped them into the backseat while Michael was finishing up.

"It took you guys long enough," Lincoln complained.

I looked towards Michael who just gave me a small smirk.

"It was all Chuck's fault really. He was really slowing us down," I commented.

Michael and Melanie both grinned, but I could tell that Lincoln just wanted to get back on the road. I guessed we could now that Michael was finishing up with the license plate. I looked back to Melanie who was just standing there smiling with her arms behind her back. I started to approach her.

"Thank you for helping me and my brother," said Michael.

Melanie smiled and nodded her head towards Michael, but didn't say anything. Lincoln had already hopped in the passenger seat and I looked to Michael. He gave me a small nod before getting in the driver's side. I stood a few inches from Melanie for our goodbye.

"I'm sorry I involved you in this," I admitted.

She shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal, but I could see the tears starting to brim her eyes. And if she was going to cry, then it wouldn't take long before I was crying.

"Lincoln explained everything to me while you guys were out," she said.

Melanie explained to me that she believed that there was something suspicious about Lincoln's arrest and trial, and she wanted us to get to the bottom of it. She told me that she wouldn't say anything to the Feds or my father about us stopping here, and I could honestly not ask for a better friend. She was the only person who actually knew me and could trust me to make this decision, and she was putting her own life and career on the line for me. There was no way I would ever be able to make it up to her. I quickly wrapped my arms around her and she returned the hug.

"I put a bag of extra clothes for you in the car," she whispered in my ear.

"Thank you."

"I also put batteries in that police scanner thing so you can listen in to what Mahone and your father are doing."

I looked back at Melanie with an astonished face. I never knew she could be so devious. Now hopefully we could be one step ahead of the police instead of the other way around. I gave her one more quick hug, but I knew that Michael and Lincoln were probably wanting us to wrap it up.

"Stay safe," she mouthed as I opened the back door of the car and slipped into the seat.

I had to dab my eyes a couple of times to keep the tears from falling. Michael backed the car and Melanie waved at us and we pulled out of the parking lot. I looked behind my shoulder at her one final time, and I hoped it wouldn't be long before I was seeing her again. We quickly pulled out of town and headed what looked like to be the middle of nowhere. I let out a frustrated sigh and rested my head back against the seat. I could see Michael making eye contact with me through the rearview mirror.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

I tried to give a convincing smile, but I was finding it difficult. I had to say goodbye to everybody that I loved.

"It is just hard being away from Melanie. We have only had each other for a long time."

Michael didn't respond, but I saw his eyes flicker over to Lincoln who was just staring mindlessly out the window. I knew exactly what Michael was thinking. Michael and Lincoln used to only have each other when they were younger. I smiled to myself at the thought of how far I would go if Melanie ever got herself thrown in prison for a crime she didn't commit. There was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't even consider breaking her out. I looked over to my right and saw the two bags resting in the seat. I reached over and took of the bag of all our police stuff around the apartment.

I noticed she threw in a brand new cell phone to go with the scanner. At the bottom was also an older looking wallet holding quite a bit of cash in it. She would never let this go without me paying her back at some point. Knowing Melanie, she would probably start charging me interest. I pulled out the scanner and was just staring at it briefly. I flicked on the switch and a green light flickered and static came out of the speakers. I messed with one of the dials for a moment before I could start to make out small voices. Michael and Lincoln could hear them too and turned their attention to me. I turned up the volume a little.

"How? What the hell happened?" asked an unrecognizable female voice.

There was some rustling and some more static.

"He obviously had a serious addiction to the pain killers. He was so high on them that they made him paranoid and he attacked me. I had no choice but to shoot him."

My eyes widened. What the hell was this? Were we listening in our two federal agents talking? I gasped when I recognized the voice as Mahone's. I mouthed what I discovered to Michael and Lincoln.

"He just doesn't seem like the violent type." Said the female.

"Well, I assumed he started taking the medication because he was overweight. The addiction just overtook him and made him a different person." Mahone explained.

Something about this conversation was really tugging at the back of my mind. If Mahone was talking to this person then he had to be involved in the escape somehow. I had a feeling it was an inmate, and if he was overweight then….

"Michael you don't think,," I whispered but couldn't finish my thought.

"I wonder what Sucre will think of Manche's death. After all, they were cousins."

My mouth dropped and I brought my hand up to my forehead. Mahone had just killed Manche', Michael and Lincoln were both equally shocked, and for a second I thought I was going to be sick.

"Hopefully he will guilty enough to make it easy for us and turn himself in," said Mahone with what sounded like pride.

I couldn't listen to any more of this, so I turned the scanner off. The three of just sat in silence for a moment trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Mahone had said that he killed Manche' because he attacked him. I had known Manche' to be a sweet and one of the most loveable inmates. Even though he was in prison, I didn't think he had a violent bone in his body. And then he was talking about how Manche' was addicted to pills and that made him violent. Again, all the time I was in Fox River I never saw Manche' taking any pills. Something in my mind clicked and I remembered back when I first saw Mahone with Michael back at the graveyard. I remembered Mahone hiding a pill inside his pen that he had took.

"Laney, are you alright?" Michael asked bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Mahone seems to know a lot about addictions," I said without emotion.

Michael's eyes flickered to mine and I knew that he was thinking about the same thing about Mahone and that hidden pill. There was still one more thought in the back of my mind. If Mahone could so easily kill someone like Manche' who was like the opposite of violent, then what was he capable of to those of us who would resist him?


	13. Chapter 13

Michael and Lincoln were making mindless chatter, but I was only half-listening. Other than their chatting, it was completely silent because Michael wouldn't let us listen to the radio. I was sitting Indian style in the back seat with my head resting in my hand, and I was completely bored. I hoped that wherever we were going wasn't going to be a long drive, or I thought I might go insane.

"Are we boring you Laney?" asked Lincoln teasingly.

"Yes."

They both smiled to each other.

"Well this still has to be better than being in Fox River," he said.

I just shrugged my shoulders, but really didn't say anything. Lincoln looked back at me like I was insane.

"Oh that's right. No one of you guys were strapped to the electric chair."

I tried to hide back a smile.

"Don't take it personal Linc, she is just all lonely without her cell mate."

I gave Michael a nasty glare through the rearview mirror. He was just smirking back at me and I could have killed him.

"She hasn't been gone from Abruzzi for that long," Lincoln said confused.

"I'm not talking about that cell mate."

"Michael!" I shouted reaching forward and punching him in the shoulder.

I don't ever think I had heard Michael and Lincoln laugh like that before. Not that I felt particularly happy that they were laughing about Tweener and I. I rested back in my seat pouting at the both of them, only causing them to laugh more. Honestly though, Michael did have a point. I did miss some of my time being in Fox River. We weren't on the run every hour, at least we got to eat and sleep, and of course I missed sharing my cell with Tweener. I inwardly cursed Michael for sending Tweener away that night. I just hoped that wherever he was that he was safe.

Michael suddenly whipped the car off of the main road causing me to fall over sideways in my seat. I shouted out Michael's name as we sped off the road and our way to this rickety old bridge. He whipped the car in a 360 and we were heading straight for the railing. I doubted that railing would hold my weight let alone this car. I screamed a loud, and right at the last minute Michael slammed on the breaks causing the car to stop. Now I was cursing myself for not wearing a seat belt because when Michael slammed on the breaks I flew from my seat on to the cramped floor. Michael and Lincoln both looked down at me with a curious expression, and I just glared at the both of them.

"A little warning would have been appreciated," I spat.

They both grinned and quickly stepped out of the car. It took me a couple of tries of rocking myself back and forth before I pulled myself up to the door. I stormed out of the car preparing to give the guy's a piece of my mind, and I saw them unscrewing the bolts on that rusty railing. Now I wished I would have been paying attention to their conversation because I was completely lost. I opened my mouth to say something, but Michael cut me off.

"You might want to get your bags out of the car. We won't be driving it any more."

I raised my eyebrows and put my hands on my hips. Did he really just tell me that we went spent the whole morning because he was so damn determined to get that car back just to get rid of it right now? I let out an annoyed sigh and moved to get my things out of the car. I quickly grabbed my bags and Michael was messing around in the trunk. I shut the door and Michael and Lincoln were both standing with these bags full of skin and blood. I screamed and dropped my bag to the ground. What the hell was that? I bent over to get my bag and Michael and Lincoln moved to the front seat, and were messing around with the radio. Then they both quickly moved away from the car.

"You now might want to get back from the car."

I looked at him confused, but I saw that Michael and Lincoln both started sprinting from the car, I decided the best option was to follow. The car lurched forward and crashed forward through the railing and plummeting to the ground below. The crash of the car was echoing through my ears and Michael and Lincoln were both stopped at the edge of the bridge. Michael was staring confused at the now demolished car.

"What?" I asked annoyed.

"Something's wrong," he replied.

Before I could ask, we all heard the sirens of a police car and all of our heads snapped up in that direction. A large black SUV was headed in our direction, and it wouldn't take long for them to get here. How did Mahone even find us, we were in the middle of nowhere?

"The timer isn't going to go off," said Michael.

I looked back down the bridge at the smoking car.

"Someone is going to have to go down there and set it off," I said.

Michael and Lincoln just looked at each other. I could tell they were trying to figure out which one of them was going to have to go down there. I pushed passed them and rolled my eyes.

"Babies," I said.

I slipped my bag off of my shoulders and started running down the hill. I had to fight my way through the brush and trees, but eventually I made my way just inches from the car. The sirens were getting louder, and I was going to have to do this quickly. I walked over to the car and dropped to my knees. Luckily, the windshield and all of the windows were completely smashed so it made it easier to climb into the car. Those bags filled with blood had exploded all over the seats, and I had my face literally inches from the a pile of blood. I over dramatically held my breath as I inched closer to the radio. All I would have to do is hit the scan button. Unfortunately, Michael said something about a timer, and when he said that it made me think something was going to explode. I reached out my finger and slowly pressed in the button, and then…

BOOM!


	14. Chapter 14

Luckily for me, I was far enough away when the car exploded to not get killed. By the time that the police finally arrived on the scene, we had been running for a few minutes. Now the police would think that Michael and Lincoln had died in the car accident, and it would hopefully keep them off of our trail. We had made it back to the highway when Michael and Lincoln stopped in the middle of the road. I was standing straight up trying to catch my breath.

"Exactly how are we supposed to get to Nevada? Run the whole way?" I asked sarcastically.

Michael didn't answer me, but instead pointed down the road where a car was coming towards us. The three of us stood there as the car pulled off on the side of the road, and I could tell that the driver was definitely female. She got out of the car, and I recognized her as the woman that came to visit Michael in Fox River. It was Michael's wife. Lincoln and Michael both moved towards her, but I hung back a bit. Something about her made me not want to trust her.

"Thanks for coming," Michael said greeting her with a hug.

It was taking all of my will power to suppress my eye roll. They pulled apart and Michael told her when they made it to Nevada he would wire her some money. Of course! This bitch just wanted to suck Michael dry of all his money. I rudely stepped up my pace and moved passed Michael and towards the door to the car. Michael's wife just looked at me with a glare.

"Who is this?" she asked.

I turned around to face her and gave her a fake smile.

"Laney Collins. I broke out of Fox River with them."

She saw right through that. Again I will say it, that bitch was going to try and rat me out.

"They said on the news you were working with the FBI."

I smirked at her, but didn't respond. I didn't have to explain myself to her. I just looked at Michael who suggested we get on the road. He tossed the keys over to Lincoln and everyone started moving to the car. I was hoping that Michael would sit in the back seat with his wife, but unfortunately the pleasure would be all mine. I let out an annoying huff and rolled my eyes before climbing into the back seat, and Lincoln put the car to drive, and we were off.

Another silent car ride. We were driving down just a plain country road with corn fields on either side of us. Nitka and I were sitting in the back seat as far away from each other as possible. We were both sitting with our right leg crossed over our left, and our arms folded across our chests. We also were staring out our windows clearly annoyed that we had to sit together. Michael said they we would drop her off in the next town, and I just hoped that it was a close drive.

I really wanted a chance to turn on the scanner to see what Mahone was up to, but I didn't trust Nitka enough to use it in front of her. I looked over to Lincoln who kept looking in his rearview mirror, then his gaze would shift to the side view mirror, and flicker back again to the rearview. I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see some car driving behind us. It didn't seem like a big deal to me.

"They have been following us," explained Lincoln making eye contact with me through the mirror.

I glanced back over my shoulder and gasped because the car had sped up and was right behind us. Lincoln immediately stepped on the gas, but he wasn't quick enough before they rammed into the back of us. What the hell was going on? The car whipped into the other lane, and I just hoped that they would pass us and be done with it. They caught up to us quickly and we all looked out the window to see what idiot was driving. No one was expecting what they saw.

Bellick and Geary were grinning evilly at the four of us.

Geary was driving and like a manic he turned the wheel as hard as he could to the right ramming right into the side of us. Nitka screamed as the car shook and we headed for the ditch. Lincoln regained control of the car and brought it back onto the road and hit the gas again, effectively going about 80 or 90 mph. It was pretty much a cat and mouse chase after that. Bellick and Geary would catch up to us, ram us off to the side, fall behind, and have to catch up again. Lincoln and Michael were trying to think of anything they could do to get us out of here, and I was nearly losing my mind in the back seat due to Nitka's constant screaming.

We nearly lost them when we made it to a small bridge and our two cars tried to share the road with a semi. Bellick and Geary pulled back and that truck driver thought we were all probably just a bunch of crazy kids. They caught up quickly again and were trying to find any side that they could hit. I was worried because I think our car was reaching its limit. Geary had pushed us off the road once more, and Nitka screaming as we drove through the grass taking out a mailbox. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Would you shut up!" I screamed at Nitka.

I turned my attention back to where Lincoln was driving and we crashed through some trees and went airborne.

I screamed.

I opened my eyes and I was sitting down on the floor. My head was throbbing and my vision was a little fuzzy. I reached up and grabbed the seat pulling myself up. The others were just starting to move around as well. I looked out the window and could see the other car just parked up by the road. My eyes opened wider and I looked around for Bellick and Geary. I quickly grabbed my bag and kicked my door open.

"Come on Michael we have to go."

No response.

I kicked the door in frustration and tumbled out onto the ground. I moved around trying to get Michael out of the car without much success. I looked back up at the road and Geary was standing at the top smirking at me. I gasped and started to back away slowly. Apparently, even though I thought I was moving slow enough, my surroundings started spinning and I lost my balance and fell to the ground.

Suddenly, I was yanked from the ground by my hair onto my feet. I let out a pained whimper and tried to pry myself free of these clutches. I tried twisting my body in every direction, but either Bellick or Geary was not releasing their grip. I stopped struggling when I saw the gun whip around and hit me across the face. I fell back to the ground, and I brought my hand up to my stinging cheek. I looked above me and Bellick was standing there with his stupid, smug grin. Michael and Lincoln were out of the car and heading in my direction when Bellick grabbed me by my hair again.

This time, Bellick held the gun right at my neck, and it put his other sausage like arm around my waist. Michael and Lincoln stopped moving when they caught sight of us. Nitka and Geary were way way slower, but they eventually caught up with the rest of us. Geary was holding a gun behind all of us, so we were going nowhere.

"Alright, no body move a muscle," Bellick spat.

I turned my face to the side and smirked at Bellick, before I moved a muscle. I stomped on his foot, and when he howled with pain I tried to get the gun. He must have been anticipating I would try something because he moved his foot so the ground took most of the blow, and when I reached for the gun he yanked back on my hair pulling my head backwards.

"I said no moving bitch," he seethed and backhanded me across the face with the gun again.

This time it left a cut and I could already feel the blood trickling down my face. Michael and Lincoln both looked like they could kill Bellick and started to move forward. Bellick's arm resumed its position around my waist and held me off to the side, while his other arm extended pointing the gun right at Michael. He stopped moving.

"So what are you just going to turn us in for the reward money?" Michael spat.

"With all that money awaiting us in Utah?"

Michael's eyes widened in disbelief, and Bellick actually laughed out loud like he thought his line was a clever pun.

"That's right Scofield, I know all about Westmoreland's little stash, and thanks to your whore we were able to track you down."

He better not have been referring to me as the whore, and I trained my eyes up to look at Nitka. Did she actually betray us? By the look of shock and confusion on her face, she had no idea that she was being followed. I was still going to blame all of this on her when I got the chance.

"So all of us are going to take a little trip and get that money, and then I will turn all of you in," Bellick ordered.

Geary ordered us back to the car, and they must have still thought we were in prison because he referred to us as cons. Bellick threw me forward and I stumbled a little before regaining my balance. I smeared the blood off of my cheek and started to walk towards Michael. Our new group was heading back towards the road to Geary's car. I looked to Michael to see if he had some sort of plan, but he was just staring at the ground. Lincoln bent down and started tying his shoe, and Michael was watching him closely. I knew that look, he was planning something. Out of nowhere, Bellick grabbed the back of my neck and slammed me into the front of the car holding me in place. I could feel the cold barrel against my bare neck.

"Before you think of trying anything cute, don't or I kill this bitch."

He released my neck and I snapped my head back up massaging the back of my neck. I just gave a hateful glare towards Bellick. He only grinned at me.

"I knew you would miss me," he mocked.

I rolled my eyes and Lincoln stood up to get into the car. Geary moved over to the driver's side, but we all realized that not all of us were going to fit. Bellick chuckled to himself and went to open the trunk. At first his eyes flickered over to me.

"Don't even think about it," I threatened.

He smiled again and then looked over to Nitka.

"Looks like you lose sweetheart."

He roughly grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the trunk with her screaming and crying the whole way. He forced her down into the trunk and she was begging for help, but he just slammed the door shut tight. I shook my head and moved to the back seat of the car. Michael started to move in next to me, but Bellick pushed him aside choosing to sit next to me. Oh joy. He didn't trust us enough to let us sit together. Maybe he was slightly smarter than I gave him credit for. But only slightly. Michael and Lincoln quickly stepped into the car, and Geary sped away and I could still hear Nitka's faint screams.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:Hey guys! Here is where the story starts to pick up a little bit... woo! Because I am trying to stick pretty closely to the story plot, many of you can guess what is coming next and I am super pumped for it! The other characters should be coming up soon, but it is a surprise of who and when =). **

**Next, I have a question for you guys... is there anybody out there that is good with making videos on the computer? If you are send me a private message and I might have a little project for you if you are interested! Enjoy =)**

I knew something was different the moment Geary put his foot on the gas pedal. The car wasn't driving as smoothly as it should. I watched Lincoln from the front seat and he kept glancing through the rearview mirror like he was looking for something. He was definitely up to something, and I wanted to know what it was. Bellick looked over in my direction, and I quickly averted my gaze and stared out my window. He snorted, and I turned my gaze and glared at him.

"You moving on to your next man Collins," Bellick mocked.

I looked over to Bellick with a look of confusion. What did he mean I was moving on to my next man? Surely he didn't think I was attracted to Lincoln, but he kept looking back and forth between the two of us.

"I know your little game that you pulled in Fox River," he stated confidently.

"What game?" I snapped. " I was never with any other guys in prison except for Tweener."

Bellick snorted, "please you were all over Scofield and Abruzzi until Tweener walked in the joint." "And don't even get me started about Tbag."

"Tbag? You think that I was interested in Tbag? I was scared for my life around him most of the time!" I shouted.

"I watched you Laney Collins. You flirted with him, touched him, even kissed him once or twice."

I was just staring blankly at Bellick. I couldn't even come up with a valid argument. Now that I thought about it, I guessed I did flirt with Tbag a little, and I did kiss him on the cheek once, but I never once believed that I ever wanted Tbag. And I didn't think that I bounced around from inmate to inmate while I was there, but I did get to know them. What was wrong with that?

"I was foolish enough to buy your little act, and it ended up costing me my job. Tweener he was young and stupid and you conned him into loving you."

My mouth was literally hanging open. Is that what everyone thought about my relationship with Tweener? that I was just using him, and he was too stupid to know the difference. Bellick was smiling triumphantly because he caught me off guard. Bellick leaned over and squeezed my knee. I flinched and dropped my gaze.

"Don't worry, now everyone will know what a whore you are."

I thought I was going to be sick. Bellick was right, I was a whore, and I was probably going to end up like Nitka. Michael and Lincoln had heard enough and both started yelling at Bellick on my behalf. Bellick yelled back and started waving the gun around. I just sat there staring straight ahead. The arguing back and forth finally stopped when the car started shaking violently. Geary was losing control of the car and I pressed myself as far back into my seat as possible. The car shook one more time and we ended up in the ditch. Again. Bellick started cursing at the top of his lungs, and ordered everybody out of the car.

We all complied, and as I stepped out of the car I noticed that one of the tires was completely flat. I looked over to Lincoln and he just shrugged his shoulders with a smirk. Bellick moved over to the trunk and roughly pulled Nitka out. She was still crying of course and I just rolled my eyes at her. He ordered Geary to change the car, but Geary didn't move.

"I don't have a spare."

I thought Bellick was going to kill something.

"What kind of an idiot doesn't have a spare tire?" he barked.

Even I couldn't hide my smile.

"That was the spare," admitted Geary.

"Well then you are going to have to walk to the next town and find one," growled Bellick.

Geary pointed to himself like he couldn't believe he had to be the one that walked into town. I wasn't so sure he could make it there and back without giving himself a stroke. Bellick pointed down the road a ways where there was an abandoned shack. I guess that is where we were going to be hiding out until Geary got back. They pushed us into the shack and it was absolutely disgusting. It was damp and gray and it smelled horrible. Bellick pushed Michael, Lincoln, and I onto the floor. Where the hell was Nitka? She was still standing back by the front door just watching Bellick.

Bellick took out these plastic cuff things and started restraining my hands behind my back. I glared at him the entire time. When he was finished he stroked my chin with his stubby fingers. I jerked back and thought about telling him off, but I didn't. He quickly tied Michael and Lincoln 's hands and returned back to where Nitka was standing. They whispered to each other and then stepped into a separate room. Excuse me? What the hell did she have to talk to Bellick about that couldn't be said in front of the rest of us? I looked over to Michael with disbelief.

"You can trust Nitka Laney," Michael assured.

I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Please the only thing she loves more than you is money."

Michael seemed to consider this for a moment and looked to Lincoln who just shrugged his shoulders. Within a few minutes, Bellick and Nitka emerged from the other room and he sat Nitka down to tie her hands together. She was avoiding all eye contact with Michael and I was sure that something was going on. I looked over to Bellick who was just staring at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

He tilted his head and smirked at me.

"I'm curious Collins, when did you decide to go rogue and betray your father?"

That hit a sore spot. I just sat there staring up at Bellick. I technically never decided to rogue while I was still in Fox River. I found my answer and smirked back at Bellick.

"Well, it was probably after Tbag had forced me over that wall because he handcuffed himself to me."

"Don't act cute with me. You were going to let those guys walk right out the front door. You are a disgrace to law enforcement."

I had had enough of this crap. I rocked myself forward onto my feet and charged Bellick.

"Fuck you!" I shouted running smack dab into Bellick.

I knocked him off balance and I spit in his face. He looked at me with pure rage and picked me up around my waist. I kicked my feet trying to break free, but I couldn't before he threw me onto the ground. I landed on my side and I coughed trying to catch my breath. Bellick stormed over and grabbed a fistful of my hair pulling me inches from his stinking face.

"It is going to be my personal pleasure to watch you burn for this," he seethed.

He released my hair and I pushed myself up against the wall slouching down. Michael was looking over at me checking to see if I was alright, but I didn't look over at him. Nitka looked up to Bellick and expressed that she needed to use the restroom. I rolled my eyes as he move to untie her hands. She quickly hopped up and followed Bellick into the back room. I could still feel Michael's gaze on me and I turned my head in the opposite direction. I saw my bag sitting against the wall, and I could see the scanner resting in the side pouch. I suddenly felt an urge to turn it on and see what Mahone and my father were up to.

The back door opened and Nitka and Bellick returned. She took her seat on the floor and Bellick stepped outside briefly. Nitka looked over to Michael.

"He is starting to trust me," she whispered, "he is expecting me to turn on you."

Michael smiled at her, and told her that he knew she would make the right decision. Bellick came back through the door and I never took my eyes off of him for an instant.

"What are you looking at?"

I bit my lip trying to think of a good excuse, and Bellick smirked at me. I immediately stopped biting my lip because I picked up the habit from Tbag.

"My scanner is in my bag over there," I began, "we use it to keep track of what the FBI is doing."

"So?"

I sighed annoyingly.

"So, can I turn it on for a little bit?"

He was just staring at me still unconvinced of the importance of turning the scan. God, he could be so thick sometimes. I couldn't lose my cool though, or he wasn't going to let me turn it on. I gave a fake smile and tried to explain it a little better to him. It was like teaching someone is kindergarten.

"If Mahone gets an idea of where we are going, we will know he is heading in our direction and can disappear before we get caught."

Blank stare.

"If Mahone is heading to this shack right now, and we get busted you can kiss your money goodbye."

Bellick's eyes suddenly went wide and he nodded his head at me. I rolled my eyes as he moved to untie my hands. I hopped up onto my feet and moved over to my bag, but Bellick grabbed me by my elbow.

"No funny business."

I jerked my arm free and knelt down by my bag. I pulled out the scanner and turn the switch and the light went green. Bellick yelled at me to turn up the volume so everyone could hear. I did as I was told and I thought I might go deaf from all the static. Bellick was looking at me skeptically like I was trying to pull a fast one on him. The static started to clear up and I could make out faint voices. I would really have to thank Melanie for this later. It was turning out to be pretty useful.

"Is everything in place?" asked a voice I was pretty sure was Mahone.

"Yes, the rat is waiting at the hotel for us to pick him up. We just have to make sure Abruzzi doesn't get there before we do."

I looked up to Michael and he was looking at me equally confused. Surely they didn't meant that they had pulled Fibonacci out of the witness protection program, and someone let it slip to Abruzzi. There were so many ethical issues with that I couldn't even process it.

"I don't plan on letting that happen," said Mahone darkly.

It went to static again and I turned the scanner off. Bellick pulled me back down to the ground and retied my hands together. This just wasn't adding together. There was no way that the FBI would take Fibonacci out of the witness protection program just to speak to him. I knew it had to be a ploy of some kind, but still the traps we usually set up weren't this dangerous. Mahone really wanted to capture Abruzzi, and for some reason it just wasn't settling right with me. Deep down I had to admit to myself that I was afraid that Abruzzi was going to take the bait and end up getting himself killed.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wasn't ready for anybody from Fox River. I couldn't even picture losing any of them. I had to do something, but I didn't know if there was anything I could do. I finally looked over to Michael and I noticed that Nitka had left with Bellick again.

"Laney," Michael whispered.

I turned my attention back to him.

"Get ready. When Nitka comes back we are going to make our move."

I raised my eyebrows at Michael. I didn't know how we were going to get out of here, but I just had to put my trust in Michael. I nodded my head and squirmed on the floor a little trying to loosen the cuffs on my hands. I didn't know if we were going to fight to have Bellick, but I would be willing to throw in a punch of two. I looked over to Lincoln who was staring straight ahead at the shut door. He was waiting anxiously for Nitka to return. The door opened violently and Bellick was practically dragging Nitka across the room. Apparently whatever she had tried didn't work too well. Bellick pushed Nitka to the floor and started tying her hands together.

"My father used to say to me, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice and I put you in the ground."

I raised my eyebrow at the lame joke. I looked back to Nitka and had secretly handed something over to Lincoln. It looked like a knife. Bellick looked pleased with himself and patted Nitka on the knee.

"Thanks for the dance sweat pea."

Ew. I had to hold my breath to keep from gagging. There was no way that I ever in a million years would give a dance to Bellick, I mean come on you have to draw the line somewhere right? Bellick turned his back for a split second, but that was all that Lincoln needed. He jumped up with the knife in his hand. Bellick reached back for his knife and stopped dead in his tracks.

"You bitch." He muttered.

Lincoln quickly wrapped his thick arm around Bellick's neck and held the knife so it was pushing into his cheek.

"Fooled ya," Lincoln mocked.

Lincoln roughly pushed Bellick against the wall and punched him in his fat gut. He doubled over and started coughing, but Lincoln only punched him again. Michael was able to get the handcuffs off of himself and moved over to free my hands. I hopped up onto my feet and went over to grab my bag. I saw the scanner sitting in the side pocket, and I thought back to Abruzzi. I hoped that it wasn't too late, and Abruzzi was going to the hotel. Lincoln now had Bellick sitting on the floor with his hands tied behind his back. I slowly approached them.

"Wait there's one more thing," I said.

Lincoln and Bellick both looked at me with confused looks. I smirked and moved towards Bellick much like a kicker would approach a football. I swung my foot forward and connected with his jaw. I was hoping that I broke it, but I think I just ended up bruising it. He was lying on the ground whimpering in pain, and Lincoln was staring at me with wide eyes. I just smiled at him. Nitka came running in from outside.

"Geary is coming with the tire," she said.

We all moved to hide ourselves up against the wall and Lincoln pulled Bellick into a sitting position. He had the gun in his hand. I could hear Geary whistling as he approached the door, and the tire bounced up into the house. He came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us. Then he started glaring at Bellick.

"You really suck, you know that?"

Michael walked over to Geary with the cuffs in hand. We forced the two outside while Michael and Lincoln changed the tire. I put my bag in the backseat and stepped back to Bellick and Geary. I knelt down so I was eye level with Bellick.

"I wonder what my father and Mahone are going to think about you letting us get away. I personally am going to love seeing you burn for this," I repeated his words back to him.

He glared at me and I stood up and walked back to the car. I slammed the door shut and Lincoln drove off leaving the two ex-guards behind us.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: This chapter is where the story is going to start picking up with the plot a little and veer away from the original storyline... but only a little.. Enjoy =)**

At some point, we had to stop on the side of the road to figure out where the hell we were even at. I grabbed the scanner from my bag and I had to fight every urge in my body not to turn it on. I went to stick at the bottom of my bag so it wouldn't tempt me, and I saw the cell phone that Melanie had left me. I pulled it out and turned it on and a blue screen flashed. The first thing that popped up was that picture of Melanie and I that she had put in her bathroom. Then the phone beeped because I had a new message. I opened it:

_Laney, good luck on the finding the answers you are looking for. Even though I don't understand everything that is going on, I do trust you and I know that you will follow whatever you think is right in your heart. To be honest, I am also slightly jealous that you get to spend all that quality time with the brothers, they are pretty good looking. =) BTW, I found this piece of paper with your old clothes and it had some kind of a phone number on it so I put it in your contact list. Please come back soon as you are my best friend and I love you like a sister. Mel_

I was smiling by the time I got through reading the message. Melanie always knew how to brighten up my day at the right time. But after reading the message, I felt like smacking myself in the head. I had completely forgot that Abruzzi had given me his phone number before he left. I doubled checked and indeed there was a number in my contact list. I could hardly contain my excitement as I hurriedly hopped out of the car. Michael and Lincoln were discussing things which each other and Nitka was pacing back and forth nervously. What did she have to be nervous about? Michael and Lincoln were headed back in our direction and I was going to tell them about the cell phone, but Nitka pulled out a gun and pointed it right at Michael. Dumb bitch.

"What are you doing?" asked Michael.

"With the three of you turned in I would get to keep all that reward money," she explained.

She only kept her eyes on Michael who was just staring back at her. I personally wanted to charge her and punch her lights out.

"I loved you Michael, and all you had to do was love me back."

I could see the hurt in Nitka's eyes, and it brought on a strange feeling. Nitka had loved and devoted herself to helping Michael, and he turned his feelings towards someone. Not that he devoted himself to me, but in Fox River Tbag had told me that he had feelings for me. And I pretty much threw it in his face by choosing Tweener. It was never that I didn't care about Tbag, but I loved Tweener in a way that I would probably never love Tbag. Let's be honest, Tbag scares the shit out of me, and you can't be with someone that scares you. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Lincoln started to approach Nitka.

"Stay back or I'll shoot!" she threatened.

"No you won't," Lincoln said calmly.

He held out his hand and my eyes widened when I saw that he the clips for the gun. Nitka's face sunk and she lowered the gun. Lincoln stormed over to her and ripped the gun roughly out of her hands. She looked like she was about to cry, and Michael approached her but didn't say anything. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Start walking," Michael finally said.

Nitka was staring at him in disbelief, and I figured that Michael would change his mind but he just stared angrily at her until she turned the other direction and started walking. Lincoln followed her with his eyes, but nobody said anything. Michael looked back to me and I could see the guilt in his eyes for sending Nitka away. I gave him a reassuring smile, and held out my cell phone.

"I'm going to make a phone call, you can check the scanner if you want."

Michael nodded at me and I walked a ways down the road while dialing the phone. I took a deep breath and the phone was ringing. It rang four times before it went to a voicemail system. I let out an annoyed huff that I hoped wasn't going to be in the message.

"John, I think you know who this is. By now you probably have heard a tip that Fibonacci has been spotted. I know how bad you must want to go confront him, but listen to me John you just can't. I suspect that it is a trap because there is no way for any reason that they would pull someone out of the witness protection program. Look, I know that you have every reason not to trust me, but please for your own good do not go to that hotel."

The phone beeped that the message had been sent. I clicked the phone off and just hoped that I could get through to Abruzzi before it was too late. I made my way back to the car and Michael and Lincoln were bent over listening to the scanner. They had extremely worried looks on their faces and I was afraid it had something to do with Abruzzi. I hurried over to where they were standing.

"Hey what's going on?" I asked.

They both turned and looked at me with shocked faces. Something was definitely going on, and I wanted to know what. Michael put his hands on my shoulders and walked me backwards a few steps.

"Laney, I'm sorry," he started.

I pushed his hands off of my shoulders.

"What do you mean you're sorry?"

I didn't even wait for him to answer before I was pushing past him. I walked right up to Lincoln and ripped the scanner out of his hands and turned up the volume.

"It's tragic really, the poor girl never got a chance to live," said an unfamiliar voice.

I looked at Michael and Lincoln confused. I didn't understand what any of this had to do with me. I listened in to Mahone's voice.

"She might have lived to if she hadn't gotten involved with the escape."

My heart suddenly sunk. There were only a handful of people that knew about the escape, and an even smaller number of girls. I immediately thought the worst. My chest was tightening and it was getting harder to breathe. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be her.

"So are we assuming it was one of the convicts," asked the woman, "she was spotted with them."

The tears were starting to well in my eyes. Please God, don't let it be her.

"Yes. Since she worked with the FBI there will be a private service for her this weekend so everyone can mourn the death of Melanie Fitzpatrick."

I dropped the scanner. My mouth was hanging open, but no sound was coming out. The tears were just freely falling from my face. This had to be a dream, please let me wake up soon. I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder, but I stayed in my trance. Michael came down to my eye level.

"I'm sorry Laney," he said heavily.

I shut my eyes as the tears burned the edges. My hands were starting to shake at my sides. I felt as if I was going to pass out. Melanie couldn't be dead.

"How?" I choked out.

Michael's eyes flickered over to Lincoln's as if trying to decide whether to tell me or not. I thought my legs were going to give out.

"She was shot three times."

"I have to go…. I have to go see her… I have to go see for myself," I rambled.

I spun away from Michael and started to hurry down the street, but Lincoln quickly caught my wrist. They were trying to explain that the police would expect me to show up, and that I couldn't go. They just didn't understand.

"No! Stop! Let me go! Please, let me go!" I sobbed.

Lincoln pulled against his chest and I struggled with everything I had. I think I even kicked Lincoln once or twice. I screamed and screamed at the top of my lungs, but he wasn't letting me go. Finally, I collapsed on the ground letting out my convulsive sobs. Melanie. My sister. My partner in crime. My best friend. The one who knew all my secrets and I knew hers. Melanie was dead. The more I thought about it the more loudly I started to cry.

"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I screamed it again and again and again. My throat was getting raw from the screaming. I tried running again, but I didn't make it very far before Michael caught me. He had his arms securely around me, and I was staining his shirt with my tears. I couldn't do this without knowing that I would never see her again. I didn't want to live the rest of my life without her. My legs gave out and Michael was the only thing keeping me up. I had quieted down and the tears had stopped flowing, but I never stopped shaking. Michael scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the car. He put in the backseat, and I didn't even have the energy to sit up. I laid there on my back trying to catch my breath and I felt the car moving forward. I wanted to just go to sleep and wake up to everything being the way it was and to see Melanie smiling at me again.

But even I knew as I drifted off to sleep that this pain would never go away.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey Guys! Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter up. For some reason, this story just isn't sitting with me right and I have no idea why? I would really love to hear any feedback about this story, or the plot, or anything... I would really appeciate it! Enjoy =)**

They thought I was asleep, but I could hear them whispering to each other. I had my back to them and I had my knees huddled up to my chest. The light was brightly shining through the windows and it burned my red rimmed eyes. I hadn't slept at all; I couldn't really every time I shut my eyes all I saw was the memories of Melanie.

Just hearing her name made the tears start to well up again. I still couldn't bring myself to admit that she was really gone. It just wasn't fair she was one of the good guys, why did she have to die? I was trying to get a grip and let out a sniff. I could sense Michael and Lincoln both glance back in my direction, but I didn't respond to them. I was feeling guilty for yelling at Michael earlier, but that didn't even come close to the level of guilt I felt for Melanie. If we never would have went to her apartment for help then she would still be alive. I was never going to forgive myself for what I did to her. I might as well have pulled the trigger myself.

"It wasn't your fault Laney," Michael said almost as if he was reading my mind.

I didn't turn over to face him.

"It will be my fault every day for the rest of my life," I said dryly.

"You didn't shoot her in cold blood."

"No. Mahone did." I said.

He didn't say anything, and I knew that I had caught him off guard. It was hard to believe that someone who worked to uphold the law could be capable of something like that, but when pushed anyone was capable of anything. I just had to figure out Mahone's angle.

"But Laney how do you know it was Mahone?" asked Michael.

He didn't ask me because he didn't believe me, he asked me because he really wanted to know how we could prove that Mahone was behind this.

"She was my best friend Michael, I just know."

Michael sighed clearly that wasn't the answer he was looking for. He needed solid proof to take Mahone down. I vowed to Melanie that I wouldn't give up until I brought him down in the most vengeful way possible. Getting over my pity party, I sat up in the seat and ran my fingers through my hair. I felt like the past couple of days had been an outer body experience. I lifted my white shirt slightly and brought my face into the fabric. It still smelled like Melanie's apartment. Shit God dammit. I let out a frustrated high and buried by face in my hands.

"Are we there yet?"

"Nearly," said Michael.

It seemed so weird to be practically in Utah already when not so long ago we were just leaving Chicago. We were just leaving Melanie's apartment. Shit God dammit.

"What do we do when we get there?" I asked just trying to make conversation.

"We go straight to the courthouse."

I raised my eyebrows at him, and he smirked at me through the rearview mirror. Our track record with courthouses wasn't so great and Michael was so eager to get there.

"I doubt that Toole Utah looks the same it did when Westmoreland buried all that money. We need to find the right map."

I nodded my head at Michael, and rested my head back against my seat. I brought my feet up under my chest and tried to make myself as comfortable as possible, and just tried to enjoy the rest of the ride the best I could trying to think of Melanie as little as possible.

Shit God dammit.

Nearly there my ass Michael! The ride into Toole Utah took another four hours. I was ready to rip out my hair by the time we pulled into the small town. As soon as I read the town sign I perked up like a giddy child. Suddenly, I got hit with an urge and now I was in desperate need of a bathroom. I bounced up and down in my seat a couple of times.

"Michael I know that you said we needed to find the courthouse as a first priority, but is there any way we could find a bathroom."

They both looked back to me and I tried to give them my sweetest smile in the world. They kept on driving into the center of town. We were stopped at a red light and I took the chance to look around the small town. People were out and about doing their various things, but my gaze stopped on a blonde haired man standing on the corner of the sidewalk. I squinted my eyes trying to get a better look at him, but the light changed and we quickly sped off. We made brief eye contact and I swore that is was… but it couldn't be him.. could it?

Like most small towns in the country, the courthouse was right in the center. You would have to be blind to miss it. My eyes perked up though when I saw a gas station not too far from the courthouse. Lincoln parked the car and the three of us watched as two policemen made their way into the courthouse. I opened the door and hopped out of the car. I took a few minutes to stretch, and my legs felt a little wobbly. I turned back to face Michael.

"I'm going to walk over to the gas station while you guys are in the courthouse," I explained.

Michael looked down the road at the gas station and fished some money out of his pocket. He handed me the bills while explaining a few things he wanted me to pick up.

"Don't get caught," I teased walking in the opposite direction.

It was a nice day outside, and it felt good to walk in the breezy air. I felt like I was clearing out my head. I quickly crossed the street and opened the door to the gas station. The bell to the door rang and the cashier looked up at me. She was a young girl probably still a senior in high school. She looked at me briefly then dropped her eyes. I kept my eyes on the mint green tiled floors as I pushed my way through the building. The bathroom was in the back and I was in and out in a hurry. I picked up the things that Michael asked me and headed over to the checkout counter. The cashier was looking at me again.

"Do I know you?" she asked curiously.

I stood there staring at her like an idiot. She recognized me that was for sure, but she couldn't place it.

"I don't believe so, I am just passing through town," I lied.

She tilted her head to the side as if she was trying to assess if I was telling the truth. I fished out the money and handed her the exact amount. She slowly took the money.

"I guess you just like have one of those faces," she said shrugging her shoulders.

I smiled at her and wished her a good day before quickly exited the gas station. I made my way across the street and hoped that Michael and Lincoln were able to get the map. I could see them standing outside the car, and Michael was standing with his hands on his hips like he did when he was frustrated. When I looked closer I saw that they were talking to somebody. I saw the blonde hair and I recognized him as the man that I saw earlier at the stop light, but why did Lincoln and Michael want to talk to him? I approached them and Michael looked at me first, then Lincoln, and then the blonde haired man turned his head to look at me. My jaw dropped, my eyes bulged, and I dropped the sack I was holding.

It was Tbag.


	18. Chapter 18

Tbag was equally shocked to see me standing there staring at him. I just kept standing there with my mouth open staring at him. I did see him earlier standing on the corner. Michael and Lincoln kept looking back and forth between the two of us waiting for one of us to make a move. My eyes moved up and down his body, and they rested on his hand, or should I say his former hand. I gasped at how… well dead it looked. It had this purplish tint to it and bandages were wrapped tightly around it. He must have found someone to stitch it back on. But hey at least he was alive. I immediately thought about Melanie and I clenched my fists at my sides.

I still don't completely understand why I did it, but I ran over to the car and wrapped my arms around Tbag. I felt a mixture of relief that he was neither dead or captured, and confused for why I cared so much. I mean this was Tbag we were talking about. He eagerly wrapped his good hand around my waist and put his face next to my hair and inhaled.

"Ah, that's my sweet Laneykins smelling like lilacs… a hit of vanilla, but lilacs nonetheless."

I pulled away from Tbag and just stared at him. He looked different, but he was still the same old Tbag. I looked over to Lincoln and Michael who were staring at us curiously. I looked to the ground embarrassed and put some distance between Tbag and myself.

"So as I was sayin, I went in to the get the map and somebody had already beat me to it," explained Tbag.

"Who was it?" growled Lincoln.

I looked up at Tbag waiting to hear his answer, and I saw his eyes flicker over to me briefly as if trying to decide what would be the best thing to say.

"It was our dark skinned friend," mocked Tbag.

He was lying. That much I could tell, but I had no idea why he would lie to Michael and Lincoln saying it was C-note that had the map. They both believed Tbag, and I decided not to call him out yet. I figured I would wait and see what his part in all of this was. One thing I remembered from Fox River was that Tbag always had an angle for the things he did. It was just a part of who he was. Michael and Lincoln ordered the both of us to get into the car. I raised my eyebrows at the both of them for ordering me around. With my arms folded across my chest, I slowly climbed into the backseat with Tbag. Lincoln quickly pulled away from the courthouse and stated heading out of town.

The car ride was absolutely silent. Tbag definitely brought down the mood a little for Michael and Lincoln. He was sitting smugly in the back seat with his hands resting on his lap. He was enjoying every moment of their discomfort. I was shaking my head looking at him and he only grinned at me. Then he did something that I didn't expect. He reached forward and squeezed my leg. I just stared at his hand afraid to look at his face. He took his thumb and stroked the area around my knee. I looked out the window and bit my lip. I couldn't let this continue so I cross the legs so Tbag couldn't touch me. I heard him chuckle and I let out a frustrated sigh.

Lincoln had turned off to some dirt road a ways out of town. He pulled off to the side of the road and shut off the engine. I looked over at Tbag confused, but he simply shrugged his shoulders. Lincoln and Michael got out of the car and I followed suit. They walked so they were standing behind the car leaning against the trunk. Tbag took his time strolling over to the rest of us. Lincoln smirked sarcastically and popped open the trunk gesturing to Tbag.

"Get in," he ordered.

I stood there looking shocked to see what Tbag was going to do. He started to open his mouth to protest, but Michael pushed forward into the trunk. Tbag put his hands up in surrender and climbed into the trunk. He looked over to me briefly and I looked at him with sympathy before Lincoln slammed the door shut. Michael turned to look at me.

"Let's go back into town to see if we can find C-note and the map," he suggested.

I bit the inside of my cheek and looked back at the trunk unsure of what to do. I didn't want to just leave Tbag here all alone in the hot car.

"You guys go ahead and I can stay here and keep an eye on the car.

Michael and Lincoln exchanged glances trying to decide if they could trust me to stay here alone with Tbag.

"Don't let him out of the trunk Laney," Michael warned.

I rolled my eyes. Of course I wasn't going to let him out of the trunk. Michael didn't stop staring at me.

"I mean it, do not let him out."

I nodded my head and promised that I would not let Tbag out of the trunk under any circumstances. They seemed satisfied and started heading down the dirt road. I watched them go and moved to the side of the car. I squatted down so I was sitting on the ground with my back to the car. I heard Tbag shuffle around in the trunk a bit.

"What's worse, T, the trunk or the cells at Fox River?" I teased.

I just heard some shuffling around and I think that he was surprised to hear me still here. He expected to be alone.

"T?" I said.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

I stared wide eyed at the trunk. Woah there big personality change. One minute he was hugging me and squeezing my leg, and the next he was ignoring and yelling at me. suddenly, I was thankful that he was in the trunk and couldn't get to me if I made him mad.

"Don't be upset that they put you in the trunk."

"I'm upset that I have to sit here with you," he growled.

"Why me?" I asked shocked.

"It is because of you that we almost didn't make it out of Fox River, and it is because of you that I lost my hand."

What the hell was he saying? In the span of ten minutes he had become a completely different person. I ran my fingers through my hair trying to figure out why it was my fault that he lost his hand. I thought about telling him off saying that if he hadn't handcuffed himself to me in the first place then John wouldn't have cut his hand off, but I held my tongue and made an unintentional noise.

"Why are you here Laneykins?" he asked.

I didn't answer right away. This was not the right time for this conversation, but when else might I get the chance to explain things to Tbag. I had a feeling that Michael and Lincoln weren't just going to let him accompany us clear across the country for the rest of our lives.

"I think that Lincoln may have been set up and I want to find out who and why," I explained.

Tbag cleared his throat, and I raised my eyebrows even though he couldn't see me. Was he really going to judge me for wanting to help Lincoln?

"This wouldn't be a ploy now to bust all of us later would it Agent Collins?"

"No."

"Sorry if I don't trust you sweetness. You were going to let us keep rotting in Fox River."

"Wrong I was just going to let you rot," I let slip out before I could catch myself.

We were both just sitting there in silence. I imagined it must have been hot in the trunk, but the sun was beating down on me. I rested my head back against the car and I could feel the beads of sweat on the ends of my hair. I looked quickly to my left and right to make sure that I was really alone. It was completely deserted. I stood up and unbuttoned my jeans. I slid them down past my thighs and kicked them off. I was left standing in my white tank top and black, silky shorts. I let out a sigh of ecstasy as I took my seat back on the ground. I instantly felt cooler. I crossed my legs so I was sitting Indian style and I looked back over to Tbag.

"So where did you go after we left?" I asked quietly not really expecting an answer.

"You mean when you left me to die?"

He couldn't see me, but I guiltily dropped my eyes to the ground. It wasn't my choice to just leave him there bleeding out.

"I ran. I just kept running and I didn't stop until I came across this pathetic excuse for a town."

I sat silently waiting for him to continue.

"There was this small medical clinic where I met Dr. Gudat. He so kindly offered to lend me a hand, or at least put mine back on."

Somehow I had a feeling that Gudat didn't offer to help and Tbag probably had to threaten him or his family for him to help.

"I found out later that he was a veterinarian and did a hack job with my hand," Tbag spat. "When he was done he was no longer of use to me."

At first I smiled at Tbag's luck to only be able to find a vet to help him out. The end of the story made me a little nervous though. What did it mean that Gudat was no longer of use to him? I swallowed a dry lump in my throat.

"Did you kill him T?"

He didn't answer. I don't think he was ever going to answer that question out loud to my face. I looked over at the trunk and noticed that a light was on inside. How could there be a light on when the car was off? I stood up and stormed over to the trunk. I banged my hands on the top.

"Hey what are you doing?" I shouted.

He didn't answer and I hit the top of the car again. He was definitely up to something. I ran my fingers through my hair and someone called out my name. I recognized it as Michael's voice so they must have found the map and C-note. I turned around to greet them, and there was definitely somebody else with Michael and Lincoln.

But it wasn't C-note.


	19. Chapter 19

I was just standing staring right past Michael with wide eyes. The dry lump in my throat came back and it was difficult to breathe. Tweener stepped forward a little looking equally as shocked to see me. He was wearing a baseball cap with a red shirt and gray jacket. I didn't know how he wasn't burning alive in the jacket. I stepped forward slowly and Lincoln moved behind me towards the trunk. Everything was completely out of mind except for Tweener. We stopped just short of each other and I brought my hand up to caress his cheek. He brought his hand up to cover mine. I grinned at him and jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms snuggly around the small of my back. I looked back up at him with tears brimming my eyes. I couldn't believe he was here right now. He dropped his head down so it was resting against my forehead. I slightly parted my lips and shut my eyes waiting for our inevitable kiss. Someone cleared their throat and I felt Tweener's grip tightened. I turned my head to see Tbag standing out of the trunk. He had his head titled to the side.

"My Laneykins, I have to say that I am loving this view of you," he said biting his lip.

I turned to look back at Tweener with wide eyes and my face turning bright red. Tweener's eyes widened when he realized that I was standing in my underwear. He suddenly pulled his hands away from my lower back as if he was embarrassed at touching me so low. I rolled my eyes and turned to look back at Michael and Lincoln who were trying to avoid looking at me.

"I got hot ok," I said stomping over to where my jeans were resting on the ground.

I pulled my jeans over my hips and buttoned them tightly. I walked back over to the children and I noticed that a small piece of paper that was stuck to Tbag's lip.

"You lied to us, Tweener never had the map, you did," Michael growled.

I looked to Tbag shocked and he just grinned wickedly. I guessed in reality I wasn't that shocked. Tweener was rolling his eyes and I bet that he had been playing all of us.

"And now it is passing through my lower intestine." He mocked.

"Ok that can't be healthy, T. Eating keys and maps."

Tbag turned to look at me and winked. I rolled my eyes and moved over to stand next to Tweener. He smiled at me and reached out to take my hand. I eagerly accepted. Our fingers intertwined and I felt a wave of electricity wash over me.

"I did commit it to my photographic memory before disposing of the map, so it looks like I'm sticking around." Tbag said.

That was his angle all along. Spending so much time with Tbag in Fox River, I was starting to realize that Tbag never did anything if it didn't benefit him somehow. He knew ahead of time that the others wouldn't be willing to take him along to the money because honestly everyone hated his guts. He had to make sure that he was included somehow. Lincoln looked to Michael, but Michael only shook his head like they had no other choice. Tbag was along for the ride.

Tbag victoriously smiled and moved to climb into the back seat of the car. I pulled on Tweener's hand leading him towards the car, but Lincoln reached out and roughly grabbed Tweener by his shirt. What the hell was he doing? He pushed Tweener so he slammed into the trunk of the car. I defensively moved towards Tweener.

"Get in the trunk." Lincoln ordered.

Tweener put his hands up in surrender and started to move towards the trunk.

"What? No!" I shouted pushing Lincoln back a bit.

He had no right to be ordering Tweener around, and there was no reason for Tweener to have to ride in the trunk. Lincoln was glaring at me while I stood my ground. I looked over to Michael for some support, but he was in complete agreement with his brother. And of course Tbag was already sitting in the car completely unaware of the situation. I looked back to Tweener and I could tell by the look in his eye that he was more than willing to get in the trunk. It broke my heart. He didn't deserve to be treated this way, and why in the hell was Tbag getting treated better? Lincoln reached forward and roughly grabbed me by the elbow. I screamed and tried to get free, but he wasn't letting go any time soon.

"You don't get to call the shots," he shouted at me.

He pointed at Tweener to get in the trunk, and without hesitation he climbed in. I bit the inside of my cheek in frustration and ripped my arm free of Lincoln. I just stared back and forth between Michael and Lincoln unsure of what to say. (Actually I really wanted to scream at the both of them.)

"Do you ever stop to think about why he ratted on you in the first place?" I asked Michael sharply.

Michael and Lincoln stared at me blankly.

"In Fox River he was afraid and alone and you kept turning him away. Even when he was around you all just treated him like he was sometimes lower than Tbag. And now he is in the trunk. What do you expect?"

I didn't even wait for their response before I stormed over to the car. I threw open the door and angrily sat down next to Tbag. I could feel him just smirking at me and there was no way I was going to look at him. I folded my arms across my chest and let out an angry huff. I stole a glance over at Tbag and he was biting his lip at me.

"Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Laneykins your arms are doing a magnificent job of showing off your assets."

I looked down to where my crossed arms were pushing out my chest. I gasped and dropped my arms causing Tbag to laugh. I rolled my eyes and leaned my head against the window. Michael and Lincoln both climbed into the front of the car and started the car. Tbag was going to have to give us directions to wherever the map told us the location of the money was. If he even really had the map memorized and wasn't blowing smoke up our asses.

"Don't get upset Laneykins, if anything I should be the one that is upset with my predicament."

I looked over to Tbag and he was waving his dead hand in the air. My mouthed thinned in disgust and I gave Tbag a weak smile. His hand did look absolutely disgusting. It was all purplish and it just honestly looked dead. His bandages were wrapped around most of it, and I was pretty sure that his fingers wouldn't move. I decided not to say anything about his nasty hand because it would probably make him mad.

"Did you know that in Thailand on the black market you can pay to get a new hand," Tbag said proudly.

"That's repulsive," I said.

He winked at me then turned his attention back to the road. He blinked a few times as if trying to count back where we were at.

"Turn right here," he said pointing his finger.

Lincoln did as Tbag said.

"I must say it does feel good getting the gang back together again," Tbag said spreading his arms wide.

He let his arm closest to me wrap itself around my shoulders and pulled me tightly into an awkward hug. I tried to push his hand away, but he only grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. Briefly, I decided to just give in and rest my head on his shoulder. Even though I would never admit this out loud, I did miss Tbag. He did scare me to death, but I missed the times when he could be sweet as well. He told Lincoln to turn off down this dirt path and stop the car. I sat up and put some distance between Tbag and I. Michael guessed when could walk the rest of the way to the silo.

We all climbed out of the car and the boys started walking in the opposite direction of the car. I stayed standing where I was just staring at the trunk. I didn't just want to leave Tweener in there all by himself. I meant to call out to Michael, but Tbag grabbed me by the arm and started leading me away. He pushed me forward and I stumbled right into a mud puddle. My clean jeans were now stained with mud. I glared at Tbag and stormed forward.

All we had left to climb this huge hill and we were home free to the money. Michael and Lincoln were in the front talking about everything they were going to do when they got the money. Tbag was moving too slow for my taste so I started running to move ahead of Michael and Lincoln. I moved up the hill and felt on top of the world standing at the very top of the hill. I stared ahead of me and small houses all lined up in little rows.

Wait, small little houses? I thought we were looking for a silo. A big silo in a huge field of nowhere. Either Tbag led us to the wrong place, or they built over the money. The guys were getting closer and I turned back to look at them with wide eyes. They looked at me with concern and I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Tbag looked at me like I was absolutely crazy. They moved past me to stand on the hill and stared in shock at the sight in front of them.

"Those bastards," muttered Tbag.


	20. Chapter 20

We sprinted back to the car. We had to get down to those houses to see what was going on. I slid into the seat next to Tbag and Tweener was calling out from the trunk. God, he was probably frying in there. I nervously bit my lip and touched my hand to the seat as if this still made us connected somehow. Lincoln sped away towards the tiny town. Michael was mumbling to himself about what could have happened for them to build over that silo.

I still wasn't willing to let Tbag completely off the hook. Knowing him he probably led us to the wrong place on purpose so he could double cross us and get to the money on his own. I was staring at him skeptically trying to figure out his angle, but he was racking his brain trying to figure out what the map had said. Michael just continued to mumble louder and louder.

"You know you might want to ramble out some useful information," Tbag said, "unless you have all the answers tattooed on your ass."

"SHUT UP! " Michael shouted.

My mouthed dropped as Michael started shouting at the top of his lungs at Tbag. He said that the only thing he wanted to hear out of his mouth was where the location of that silo was or he was getting tossed to the side of the road. If looks could kill, then Tbag was trying to murder Michael with his glare. He clearly didn't like being yelled at. I reached out my hand and placed it on Tbag's shoulder.

"Are you sure you told us the right location?" I asked in a quiet whisper.

Rage masked his face and with lighting speed he latched onto my throat and pushed me down in the seat. I was on my back being crushed my Tbag's weight trying to catch my breath. He leaned in close to my ear.

"What did you just say to me?" he fumed.

I opened my mouth trying to explain, but Tbag only squeezed my throat tighter making it impossible for any noise to come out. I was completely at his mercy.

"We may be out of that prison sweetheart, but I suggest you watch what you say around me. Mr. Mafia isn't here to protect you."

My eyes widened at that very scary realization. I brought my hand up to Tbag's arm trying to get him to loosen his grip. Everything was starting to go fuzzy.

"HEY! What does the map say Theodore?" Michael yelled.

Tbag looked back to Michael and released my throat. I started coughing up my right lung and Tbag pulled me back up in my seat by my elbow. Lincoln had turned into the subdivision and there were so many different houses and I had no idea how we were going to find the right one. Tbag was tapping his fingers on his forehead trying to get us to the right location. Michael was just staring fixedly at this one house with that look on his face.

"The silo was outside the trees," Tbag said confidently.

"No they were inside. Look at that house over there. All those trees were planted at the same time, but those two are shorter. Something was blocking them from sunlight."

My eyes rounded in excitement as I stared at the house eagerly. Let's just get in there and get the money.

"So the money is underneath the house?" I asked.

Michael shook his head.

"It's underneath the garage."

"Let's do this," said Lincoln.

We all opened our doors to approach the house, but that front door opened first and someone stepped outside. Damn, somebody always had to get in the way. I watched as this nasty skank of a woman emerged from the house. She strutted down the sidewalk like she was on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show wearing only this silky robe. She bent over seductively to pick up the newspaper, and no one else was outside so who was she trying to impress. I rolled my eyes wanting to get this show on the road. I looked over to Tbag who was staring with interest at that skank. My mouth dropped, was he serious? I clenched my fists together and gritted my teeth wanting nothing more than to rip this woman's hair out and I had absolutely no idea why.

"Considering this is 5 million we are talking about, I could always take a screw driver to her temple." Said Tbag.

I found myself raising my eyebrows and lifting my shoulders like it was a viable option. Oh my god, I had just agreed with Tbag to kill someone, what was wrong with me?

"We will find a way without hurting anyone," Michael said.

Desperate times call for desperate measures Michael. Wait, what was I thinking? I shook my head back and forth a few times trying to clear the violent thoughts out of my head. Before we were spotted, Lincoln quickly sped the car away from the subdivision. We hid ourselves a little ways out of the small subdivision in a field with tons of dandelions growing. I stepped out of the car and picked at a few of the flowers. Tbag angrily got out of the car.

"He screwed us over on the inside, we can't trust him," he growled.

I instantly perked up at realizing they were talking about Tweener. I stood up and ran over to the trunk waiting to let him out. If only the others were just as happy to see him as I was. Lincoln flipped open the door to the trunk, and Tweener squinted his eyes as the sunlight poured in. He climbed out of the car and immediately threw his jacket on the ground. I pouted my lip because the poor guy was sweating like no other. I started to walk towards him, but Tbag blocked my path.

"I want my fair share of the money," Tweener demanded.

He looked over to me unsure if he should have said that, but I gave him a small smile like I was proud of him.

"That can be arranged, but first we have to make sure we can trust you," Michael said.

"For the record, I trust him," I said crossing my arms across my chest.

"For the record, no one cares what you think," mocked Tbag.

I glared at him, and he brushed the hair off of my shoulder. I looked over to Tweener who looked like he could punch Tbag. That's my man.

"I need you to go get these supplies and fill the car up with gas," said Michael handing over a list.

Tweener hesitantly took the list and read it through seeing if it was even manageable. Lincoln tossed the keys over to him. I confidently stepped forward.

"I'll go with him. We can get done twice as fast with two people."

Tweener smiled at me, and I winked at him. Of course, another perk would be getting to spend some time together. I started to walk towards him, but Tbag grabbed ahold of my arm.

"I don't think so Laneykins," he growled.

"You don't trust me T?" I said giving him my biggest puppy dog eyes.

"No I don't. And I don't trust him. And I sure as hell don't trust you two together so you are staying right here."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Tbag just yanked me backwards further away from Tweener. Tbag firmly gripped my waist and held me against his chest. Tweener was trying to act like it wasn't bothering him, but it clearly was. I just looked at him apologetically and gave him a small encouraging smile. He started moving towards the car.

"And kid," Tbag said, "don't do anything stupid because it might not end too well for miss Laneykins here."

Tweener gave Tbag a death glare before climbing into the car and slamming the door shut. He quickly sped away in an angry fashion. Tbag lightened his hold and I jerked away from him. I gave him an annoyed look, and he only grinned at me.

"It's not funny. He has insecurity issues, and you only make it worse when you do things that like," I snapped.

Tbag winked at me like he knew exactly what he was doing, and I clenched my teeth to try and restrain from hitting him. I looked over to Michael and Lincoln for some assistance, but they weren't going to help because they didn't like Tweener either. Apparently, you try and spoil a prison escape attempt and you lose all the trust and votes of confidence. A part of me felt guilty because I was the one who had pushed Tweener so much on trying to bust the escape until he was in on it.

And then I felt even more guilty because it was mostly for selfish reasons. I loved Tweener the way I had never loved anyone else and it made me put his needs before others. I wanted him to be in on the escape because I wanted him to get away from the people that were hurting him on the inside, but now that he was out he still had to face the wrath of Tbag. I was snapped out of my thoughts when the guys started walking back towards the subdivision and threatened to leave me behind. I sucked up all my guilty feelings and started chasing after Tbag.


	21. Chapter 21

I immediately regretted following them. All they wanted to do was spy on the house and that woman where the money was buried. I had to hold back the bile in my throat when I stared at this woman. I don't even know what it was about her, but every time I saw her I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't even know what we were here just spying on this chick. It's not like she knew where the money was and we had to stop her from getting it. I looked over and Michael and Lincoln were conversing to themselves as usual, probably making up some ridiculous plan.

I looked over at Tbag and he was gawking straight ahead at the upstairs window. I didn't even have to look to know what he was looking at, but I turned my gaze in that direction. Of course this was the woman's bedroom and she was picking out an outfit to get changed. Seriously, who gets dressed with the window curtains wide open for everyone to see in? Tbag bit his lip and clenched my fists tightly as she started to take off her robe. Thankfully, she stepped away from the window so we could no longer see. I relaxed my hands and looked at the fingernail marks I put in my palms.

"You know Michael is not going to let you touch her," I said smartly.

Tbag looked over at me and smirked. I glanced sideways at him and just rolled my eyes. The fact that he wanted to touch this woman bothered me just as much.

"Correction he won't let me kill her, but ah touching is another matter entirely."

I looked at him with disgust causing him to chuckle.

"Come on you can do better than that T."

He started to move towards me. I followed his every move with my eyes. He stuck his tongue out at me that way he usually does.

"You don't have to be jealous Laneykins. If you wanted my attention, all you had to do was ask."

Tbag quickly hooked his arm around my waist pulling me into him. I put my hands on his chest trying to push away from him.

"Please, I'm not jealous of _that," _ I said pointing back up towards the window.

Tbag shook his head like he didn't believe me and went in to hold me again. I back up a few steps towards Michael and Lincoln. I looked over at the brothers and Lincoln was sitting on the ground messing with some electrical wires. I raised my eyebrow at Michael wanting some sort of explanation. He simply shrugged his shoulders and told me not to worry about it. Tbag had turned his attention back to the other house and was watching that woman again. I rolled my eyes, but perked up at the sound of a faint car engine.

Tweener was back.

I was pretty proud that it only took him about an hour to get all of the stuff that Michael needed. And hell yes I was prepared to rub it in their faces that Tweener was able to get something accomplished. I sprinted back to where he parked the car and nervously got out of the driver's seat. I smiled at him, but he only weakly returned it and moved over to the trunk. Something was definitely bothering him. I opened my mouth to say something, but immediately closed it when I heard the other guys behind me. I hoped that they didn't notice his hands lightly shaking.

"Did you get everything?" Michael asked.

Tweener didn't answer; he only nodded his head. God, something was really bothering him. We made eye contact briefly and I kept looking at him worried.

"What happened?" Lincoln asked darkly.

Both of Tweener's and my eyes went wide.

"What? Nothing… nothing happened," Tweener tried to explain.

Lincoln shoved Tweener against the trunk and I took a step forward defensively. Lincoln angrily asked again what happened.

"It's just someone else came into the store while I was there and I was able to tie him up in the back with the owner, but…".

"But what?" Tbag growled.

"I think he suspected something because he dialed the police before I hit him."

My mouth dropped and Michael, Lincoln, and Tbag all started shouting at Tweener simultaneously. I walked forward so I was standing the closest to Tweener.

"Did the call go through?" asked a worried Michael.

Michael repeated the question, and Tweener looked like he was about to break down.

"I don't know, maybe." He said before all hell broke loose.

Michael and Lincoln both started yelling, and Tbag looked like he could pounce on Tweener at any moment.

"I knew we couldn't trust him to do anything," snapped Tbag.

I couldn't take it any longer. I stood right in front of Tweener with my back into his chest.

"Shut up! It's not his fault." I yelled at Tbag.

Tbag glowered at me and even though I scowled back on the outside, I was trembling on the inside. Usually, when Tbag gave me a look like that it meant I was going to be hurting later on.

"Of course you start defending him the chance you get, you're his little bitch."

"HEY! Don't talk to her like that!" defended Tweener.

Somehow, the arguing and yelling switched from being mad at Tweener into a fight over me. I looked over at Michael and Lincoln who were just watching the show unfold before them .

"Get over it Tbag, she actually _wants _to be with me," Tweener stated proudly.

"She has no idea what she wants. Tbag seethed. "This game is far from over."

Game? Since when did my heart become a competition? I partly felt like this whole thing was my fault, that I somehow led both of them into thinking I loved them both.

"It can't be a game when someone has already won." Tweener stated.

Anger started boiling up inside and I pushed myself away from Tweener. He looked at me with a shocked face and I clenched my fists at my sides. Tbag stepped closer to me.

"Apparently, not."

"Stop it Tbag! This isn't a game to me, and I AM NOT A PRIZE TO BE WON!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

I didn't give anyone a chance to answer before I stormed in the opposite direction. Who did they all think they were treating me like I was just some trophy they could show off with? I had feelings too, and yes sometimes they conflicted with each other but they were still real to me. When I had angrily paced far enough away from the others, I had settled myself down on the ground. I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms snuggly around them. I lowered my head so my chin could rest on my knees. I could feel the hot tears starting to burn my eyes. Maybe tagging along on this whole journey was a bad idea. I didn't even think it through before just jumping in because that's what felt right. I had left my job, my family, my best friend, everything for these few people that I had known for a short period of time. (I had given my heart to one of them). And was it even worth it? Even if the guys did somehow manage to avoid getting caught, I could never go back to the way things were. My dad would never accept me back after everything I have done. I'm not entirely sure that I ever wanted to go back. Not with Melanie gone, and I would have to blame myself every day for her death. It was as if all these thoughts and emotions came crashing through me, and they exploded out of me because of Tbag and Tweener.

I heard the grass rustling behind me and I saw a pair of feet standing right beside me. I didn't even have to look up to know that it was Tweener. He sat down beside me and I still didn't look or say anything to him. He picked at the grass for a few moments until I finally stole a glance in his direction.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

I didn't say anything, but slowly nodded my head. I really didn't want to talk about my outburst, but I knew that I had taken Tweener by surprise.

"You're wrong though," he said.

I looked at him with a confused look, and he stared at me with a smirk on his face. Apparently, that was the reaction he was hoping for.

"You are my prize. The greatest prize I am ever going to get. Our time apart was the loneliest I had been in a while. I knew that I would spend the rest of my life trying to find you if that's what it took."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I had to stop and try to gather my thoughts because my heart was racing so fast. I finally scooted over closer to him.

"You have no idea what the means to me. I've really missed you."

I leaned in and rested my head on Tweener's shoulder. He leaned in to me and we laced our fingers together. This moment was why it was all worth it. Being with Tweener now and for the rest of my life was mostly the reason I did everything that I have done. We decided to head back to the others, and walked hand in hand back to the car. It felt like my hand belonged in Tweener's. Tweener could do this magical thing where he stroked the inside of my palm with his thumb and it made me melt every time.

We reached the car and Michael and Lincoln were staring at me with worried looks. They were afraid I was going to freak out on them. I didn't see Tbag at first, but I eventually spotted him sitting with his back to us. No doubt he was watching Tweener and me so for the time being he was too upset to try and talk to. I squeezed Tweener's hand a little tighter.

"So, what's the plan?"


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hey there guys! I am completely sorry for not updating in so long...my school work was intense and I suffered from a little writer's block, but everything is good to go now! I am on spring break this week and should be updating the next few chapters very quickly so I hope that makes up for the long wait! Enjoy =)**

I was standing a few feet in front of the woman's house. My legs were shaking nervously as I was nearly ready to approach the door. The others had changed into these blue jumpsuits and I giggled because they looked like they were back in Fox River. Michael came over to me handing me a clipboard and a hat. He playfully put the hat on top of my head.

"Why do I have to do this?" I whined.

"Not to be sexist, but honestly because you are a girl. You can relate to her."

I scoffed.

"I cannot relate to this woman." I stated confidently.

Michael shook his head and pushed me towards the door. I walked up the sidewalk and nervously looked back to Tweener. He gave me a small smile and encouraged me forward. I stepped up to the house and collected myself before knocking on the door. It took her long enough to open the door and she raised her eyebrow at me wanting to know why I was bothering her. Bitch.

"Hi," I said with a fake cheer "is your electricity out?"

"It is." She said coldly.

I fought my inner eye roll. I tossed around what to say next and I caught her stealing a look trying to find my name tag. I said the first name that came to my mind. Melanie.

"Well, um my name is Laney Fitzpatrick and I work with Fitzpatrick Electric. If you don't mind, my team and I would like to take a look at the problem."

The woman looked past me at the guys just standing around. She just better prayed that she didn't stare at Tweener too long, or I would have to hurt her. She smiled at one of the guys and signaled for me to step inside. I hesitantly followed her.

"So you work with these men?" she asked judgmentally.

"No. My brother owns the company, and I just make sure the paperwork gets signed and the guys keep up the work. Not hard labor for me."

She laughed quietly and I was following suit. She stole a glance back out the window and I held my clipboard down by my hip.

"Well it can't be all bad working with a bunch of good looking men all day."

I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. Maybe I could relate to this woman after all. Somewhat.

"But ma'am if you let us get started we can get finished by today, I promise."

She smiled at me and nodded her head for the guys to meet us out by the garage. I held in my excitement and peeked out the window to give them a thumbs up. Tweener grinned proudly at me and they all started moving towards the garage. The woman opened the door from the inside of her house and we stepped onto the cement. I stepped forward to talk to the guys, but the woman quickly stepped in front of me.

"Who is going to pay for all of this?"

The question caught me off guard and I paused a little too long without answer. She looked at me skeptically, and Michael had to come in and save the day.

"The company pays for everything ma'am. We will have to dig up the floor to get to the wires, but we will fix everything as good as new."

She looked Michael up and down with interest, but still wasn't giving us the go ahead to work. The anger was starting to bubble in my stomach. She was just doing this on purpose just get the attention from the guys! I ought to smack her silly, but Tbag walked up to her first.

"We just want to make sure a gorgeous goddess as yourself doesn't have to sit alone in the dark." He flirted.

She looked seductively over at Tbag.

"I guess it depends who I am sitting in the dark with."

Tbag smiled at her and I faked laugh behind them all so they couldn't see. I have no idea how, but Tbag's charm won the woman over and she was going to allow us to work. Lincoln entered the garage with our equipment, and I think the world stopped for that woman. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. I smiled to myself.

"This could get noisy out here so if you wanted to step out," said Michael.

Please, please step out.

"No, I think I will stay here and…keep an eye on you guys," she said staring at Lincoln.

The woman quickly disappeared inside the house, and Tbag kept staring at her ass the entire time. He looked up at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Jealousssssy," Tbag started singing.

"Nothing to be jealousssss offff." I sang back.

I looked at the garage door waiting for Tweener to get here. The sooner we could get the money and get out of here the better. I imagined all the places Tweener and I could go together with our money, and it made me giggle. We could anywhere, do anything, and be anyone. It would be like a whole new life, and any life with Tweener in it was worth it. He came back through the door and I smiled at him, but he was staring straight ahead with wide eyes.

"We have a small problem," he breathed.

I looked back at Michael a little apprehensive for what was going to come through that door. Whatever I was thinking, I definitely was not expecting those two to come strolling in. My eyes lit up as C-note and Sucre strutted into the garage. They both looked a little shocked to see me standing there, they probably thought I was going to get killed or go separate ways, but here I was. I hurried over and wrapped my arms around Sucre and he returned the hug. I looked over to C-note with a smile.

"What's up snowflake?"

I grinned at him and stepped away from Sucre so the others could greet them. It felt good getting everyone back together again, but I couldn't help but feel that something was missing. Tweener came up to stand beside me and he slipped his arm around my waist. I looked over at him and smiled.

"Hey now you all should know that on our way here Sucre and I picked up a stray."

I looked over at C-note curiously. Who the hell did they see? C-note whistled to somebody standing outside and I heard the shoes coming in before I saw the person standing in the doorway. My heart literally skipped a beat, and I felt my jaw drop to the floor. My hand slowly came up to cover my mouth. I couldn't believe it.

**A/N: Thanks again for reading =) It really does mean a lot to me! So, who do you think is standing in the doorway...muahh muahh you will have to stay tuned to find out! =D**


	23. Chapter 23

I felt like I was going through déjà vu'. The same thing happened back when I was in Fox River and I thought I would never see him again, but once again John Abruzzi was standing before me. My eyes were bugged out of my face and my jaw was starting to cramp from hanging open. I stepped forward slightly and Tweener loosened his grip around my waist.

"John," I half-whispered.

"Ciao Bella." He said.

I smiled at the sound of my old nickname. He hadn't said that line to me since we had been out of prison. Other than that, he was nothing like the old John Abruzzi. He was dressed in a navy blue suit that was probably more expensive that anything I ever owned. Everything was fancy even down to his shoes. His hair had been cut slightly and tightly slicked back. He had rings on nearly every finger and black shades hiding his eyes. I laughed to myself at the thought that he really did look like a mobster.

I grinned at him and started to move forward, but I stopped when Tbag cleared his throat. His hat was titled on the side of his head and he was staring icily at Abruzzi. I swallowed a dry lump in my throat at the tension between the two.

"This little reunion is all fine and dandy, but you all have shown up at the worst possible time," he spat.

Abruzzi smirked at Tbag not fazed.

"Well the three of us just thought you guys could use I hand. I know you could, right Theodore?"

Tbag growled and stormed right towards John. That was the last thing we needed to cause commotion so I hopped in between the two. I gave him a warning look, but Tbag only gripped my shoulders tightly and threw me to the ground. Tweener was by my side pulling me to my feet instantly and the others were trying to restrain Tbag. I brushed the dirt off of me and opened my mouth to shout at Tbag when the door opened. We all stood up straight and my eyes widened as the woman stared confused at our additions. I was hoping that she wouldn't notice.

"Who are these men?" she asked slightly annoyed.

"I…uh…" I stammered, "this is my brother John Fitzpatrick," I finally said pointing over to Abruzzi.

The others looked at me like I was insane, and they would never forgive me if I got our little plan busted. The woman looked curiously at John, and seemed to be satisfied that he was wearing a suit and tie making our "business" look slightly professional.

"This problem must be serious if they brought the owner down to check it out," she said flirtatiously.

"That's right, and we have a lot of work to get done," he said gesturing her to the door.

She smiled at him and shook her hips back into the house. I exhaled a breath of relief and ran my fingers through my hair. I felt like I was back in Fox River, and everything we did was risky. I smiled over at John, but was met with an icy stare from C-note.

"Why is she still here?" he spat.

I knitted my eyebrows together at C-note. That wasn't a very nice thing to say. I thought everyone was happy to see each other and work together again, but I could sense the tension looming in the room. And all of the eyes were on me.

"She is here on her own free will," explained Michael, "she wanted to help."

I nodded my head excitedly at C-note.

"And you trust her after everything?" he asked skeptically.

I dropped my eyes to the ground in embarrassment. I was really not expecting to get degraded right now. I looked over at Michael and he just shrugged his shoulders not really sure of what to say.

"I'm sure she told you that she was sorry for everything and that she wanted to help us get away." C-note scoffed. "She has never lied to us before though right?"

I opened my mouth to try and defend myself, but C-note cut me off clearly not finished.

"It was her fault we almost didn't escape, and now that we are out a fed knows our every move, and I find that a little convenient."

I was angrily breathing in and out. I didn't have to stand here and be insulted so I lifted my chin the air trying to keep my lip from trembling and stormed out of the garage into the backyard. C-note had no right to just attack me like that, and I was not plotting against them with Mahone. I was pacing in circles around in the yard and I heard the door open indicating that someone had joined me. I expected it to be Tweener, so I was surprised to see John standing there.

"You know that's twice now you have cost me Fibonacci."

Great now it was his turn to start ragging on me. Well you know what I was not going to let him make me feel guilty for probably saving his life.

"That's where you're wrong because Fibonacci was never there. But obviously you know that if you are here." I said like a smartass.

He smirked at my statement.

"I got your message if that's what you mean Bella."

I folded my arms across my chest and slowly stepped towards him. It was hard with him looking this way because I was so used to seeing him in his prison uniform not this business suit.

"What happened to your family?" I asked.

John massaged his forehead.

"I relocated them back home to Italy. I didn't feel that it was safe for them to remain here."

My eyes softened slightly. I knew how hard that must have been for John to send his family away. One of his major reasons, besides Fibonacci, for busting out of Fox River was so he could spend more time with his family. I dropped my arms down at my sides.

"Why did you leave me that message? Not so long ago you were going to let me rot in the prison while the others escaped, and then I get a call with you helping me escape the feds."

"Mahone wasn't going to arrest you; he was going to kill you. I don't know why, but he is playing this game dirty."

Abruzzi covered his heart with his hand and gave me a fake smile.

"It means a lot to know you care so much." He said.

I rolled my eyes.

"I know it's probably hard to believe, but I do actually care about you guys. Yes, I was sent into Fox River to bust you on some more charges, but I never thought that my emotions would get in the way."

Abruzzi pouted his lips at me and opened his arms out for a hug. I shook my head and pushed him on the shoulder.

"Stop making fun it's the truth, and if other people took the time to separate the inmate from the human being they would make the same decision too."

I smiled to myself when I remembered that not too long ago Melanie was able to make the distinction and she helped us out. I felt this tightening in my chest when I realized how we would never be able to look back on this moment and laugh about how foolish we were. It was times like these I needed her more than ever and I would never see that beautiful, smiling face again. I looked back up to John with stinging eyes.

"That night in the medical wing you knew who I was, how?"

"I suppose it was still when I was in the hospital, and I did search you. Remember I knew it was your birthday."

I smiled at that memory. I had almost completely forgotten that day in our cell. He had seriously freaked me out because he said that he knew stuff about me, but he had just got me a birthday present and didn't know my secret (or so I thought).

"You knew that whole time and you never said or did anything?"

"And you knew how long about the escape and you never said or did anything?" he countered.

I bit my lip unsure of what to say. He was right of course and he gave me a small smirk.

"You just said that you wanted other people to separate the inmate from the person, and you have to do it too Bella," John explained. "We aren't just crazy guys that think about killing all the time. I figured you deserved a small chance for keeping our secret for so long."

I was staring at John in shock. This was exactly what I was expecting from this conversation. It was hard to see him admitting that he wasn't going to hurt me for trying to betray him on the escape. He seemed to be reading my thoughts.

"Don't get me wrong I thought that the second I was out I was going to slit your pretty throat and watch you bleed out, but I could see that you really wanted us all to escape even if you wouldn't admit it."

I opened my mouth to argue, but I had nothing to say. Abruzzi smiled at me and I opened my mouth to speak, but the door opened yet again. We both turned our attention to Michael standing in the doorway.

"Laney we need your help."

I raised my eyebrows and folded my arms across my chest.

"Oh I see, earlier I was a liability and couldn't be trusted, but now you need my help so you trust me."

Michael looked slightly embarrassed and looked back inside the garage. Abruzzi looked over at me and he told me to quit being a bitch to Michael. (Truthfully it was all C-note's fault). I exhaled and started to move closer to Michael. He attempted a grateful smile and stepped back into the garage. Abruzzi was right behind me. The others all had their eyes on me, and Tweener was giving me a worried look. I looked over and smiled at him letting him know I was ok.

"The woman, Jeanette" began Michael, "she keeps bothering us and we need someone to keep her preoccupied so we can dig."

My mouth literally dropped. They couldn't be serious. They seriously wanted me to go inside and keep that woman….Jeanette… whatever… entertained. I immediately started shaking my head in refusal. Tbag stepped closer to me.

"Come on Laneykins, we all have to contribute somehow." He said.

"How will you contribute? I seriously doubt you can dig with one hand." I said before stopping myself.

A few of the others were snickering and Tbag looked like he would have killed me eight times over if the others weren't standing there. I sighed and dropped my head to the ground before moving towards the house. They were going to owe me big time for this. As I passed Tweener, he grabbed ahold of my wrist and pulled me into his embrace. I breathed him in and he titled my head up to look at him. We both leaned in to kiss each other, but a clearing of throat made us stop. I pulled away annoyingly and looked over to see Sucre and a few of the others grinning at us.

"You should probably get in there," said Michael.

I rolled my eyes and stepped away from Tweener. He looked disappointed, but didn't argue. I stepped to the door and quickly moved inside without looking back.


	24. Chapter 24

Jeannette was pacing back and forth in the kitchen humming some song to herself. I watched as she swayed her hips from side to side seductively while she poured herself a drink. I let out an annoyed sigh and slowly started to approach her. She spun herself in a circle and gasped when she saw me standing there.

"What are you doing?" she asked shockingly.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting," I said, "but with my brother here supervising the others they don't really need me."

Jeannette nodded her head at me several times and signaled for me to join her in the other room. I dipped my head and followed her.

"Of course, of course. I can only imagine how difficult it must be one you to work in a clearly masculine profession."

My head snapped up and I had this sudden urge to tell her off, but I held my tongue and moved over to sit in the chair by the table. She had two glasses out and was pouring lemonade in the both of them. My mouth suddenly felt dry at the thought that I hadn't had a sweet glass of lemonade in far too long. Jeannette slid one of the glasses over towards me and fished out a bottle of alcohol to put in hers.

"I always like my glass with an extra kick. Do you want a little?" she asked.

I immediately shook my head back and forth. What I really didn't need right now was to get drunk in front of the others. Tbag would especially never let me live that down. Jeannette shrugged her shoulders and poured the alcohol into the lemonade. She quickly swigged her drink and plopped down into her chair. The two of us sat in an awkward silence not really knowing what to say. I just held my glass right at my lips and kept looking around her house.

"So you spend a lot of time with those guys out there then?" Jeannette asked me.

I smiled to myself. If only she knew the truth behind that. I thought about each one of those guys and I felt like they were my family. I didn't say anything, but I nodded my head at her with a slight smile. Jeannette nodded her head like she was pondering something.

"Which one of them do you like on a personal level?"

I nearly choked on my lemonade and felt my face starting to heat up. Was I supposed to answer truthfully? I figured that it wouldn't look very legit and professional if I admitted to her that I was into one of the workers. I slowly shook my head and I found it difficult to admit that I had no feelings for Tweener. It sort of hurt in a way. I had to take another drink of my lemonade.

"Oh come on you can tell me so I know which one to stay away from." She said slyly.

I sucked back a piece of the ice and choke as it slid down my throat. Suddenly I didn't mind so much if I was being professional if she started hitting on Tweener. I bit the inside of my cheek.

"The younger looking one." I said shyly.

Jeannette's eyes instantly perked up and she realized who I was talking about. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She crossed her legs and wiggled her foot back and forth.

"Yes he's cute, but I need a man in my life not a boy."

I raised my eyebrow at her. Tweener was plenty of man for me, and I thought about telling her that she would be lucky to find any man for her life. Instead, I put on a fake smile.

"Are you going to tell me which one of my guys you have your eye on?" I asked playfully.

Jeannette smiled wickedly about me and opened her mouth to say something, but right at that moment the garage door opened and one of the guys walked in. Jeannette looked over at him and gave a flirtatious smile, so naturally I had to turn around to see who she was looking at. My smile slowly faded when I saw Tbag standing in the doorway. What was he doing in here? He slowly moved over to the room where we were sitting an Jeannette quickly stood up to find another chair. Tbag stepped closer to me.

"What are you doing in here?" I hissed.

Tbag only grinned and twirled a piece of my hair in between his fingers. I kept on staring at him waiting for an answer while Jeannette was pouring another glass of lemonade.

"Laneykins, I am unable to dig because of my predicament so I wanted to remain helpful and assist you and our beautiful miss."

I rolled my eyes and annoyingly took another sip of my lemonade. Tbag chuckled and moved to sit in Jeannette's old seat. She quickly returned bringing another chair and drink with her.

"Why hello there? Why wouldn't you be working?"

Tbag lifted his dead hand in the air and waved it around a little. I had to hide my laugh at looking at Jeannette nearly being sick.

"Union rules, I am only allowed so long of work before I have to sit out," he lied perfectly.

God, why couldn't I find lying as easy as Tbag did? He whipped out lies like it was his job, which most of the time it was. Jeannette started nodding her head like she believed every word and every union rule that he was spitting out. Jeannette seductively leaned forward and offered to pour some of her alcohol into Tbag's lemonade (tramp!). I saw Tbag's eyes flicker over to me briefly before allowing to her to pour a tad bit of alcohol into his drink. Tbag brought the glass up to his nose and inhaled the scent and I noticed his eyes roll into the back of his head before swallowing most of it. He gave us all fair warning that alcohol tended to make him ill-tempered (great). Tbag continued to dazzle Jeannette with his whole life story, or rather his made up life story. Part of me thought that he enjoyed making up his own story because it allowed him to be somebody different. He said something that made Jeannette laugh and she brought her hand up to cover her mouth.

"Madame is that _Angel _ perfume you are wearing?"

I was staring at Tbag with nothing short of a befuddled look. How did he even know what that perfume was called when he recognized the scent? Jeannette stared at him with an impressed look and rested her hand on her neck. Tbag rolled his eyes in the back of his head.

"Why yes is it? Did you have an ex that wore that scent? Good or bad memories?" she whispered.

I leaned forward a little in my chair waiting to hear what Tbag's answer was. I had no doubt that he was thinking back to Susan.

"Both kind of memories," he whispered. "After her children would go to bed, I would uh..watch her evening routine."

I suddenly had this annoying itch on my knee. I kept scratching and scratching at him, but it wouldn't go away.

"She would uh… take a bath put on her lotions and perfumes. There was this one spot on the back of her neck that she needed my help getting."

Jeannette's head rolled back in her chair and it was like she was fantasizing about the whole thing. I rolled my eyes and scratched that spot on my knee a little harder. Tbag stood up and slowly started walking over to Jeannette like he was going to show her that spot on her neck. I shut my eyes so I wouldn't have to witness it, but to my surprise Tbag's fingers slowly brushed the back of my neck. My eyes shot open and I let out a little gasp. I really didn't want him touching me, but I couldn't make myself tell him to stop. Some supervisor I was. Tbag finally stopped touching me and made his way back to his seat. He was grinning at me, but I was avoiding all eye contact. I really couldn't take much more of this story, and luckily I wouldn't have to because Michael came bolting through the door. Tbag looked rather annoyed and I looked hopeful at walk Michael had to say.

"Sorry for interrupting I was just making sure everything was alright in here." He said.

What he really meant was he wanted to make sure that Tbag hadn't already killed me off and was making his way with Jeannette. I tried to hide my grin from Michael at seeing how paranoid he was about this whole situation.

"That's a little strange that you were checking up on your supervisor." Jeannette said suspiciously.

I had to take a drink of lemonade to keep from laughing right there. The look on both Michael and Tbag's face when she called them out was priceless. Hey in my opinion it was their own fault for making me be a part of this. Michael put his hand behind his head and started rubbing the back of his neck.

"My apologies, I was coming for Theodore to lend an extra hand because one of our workers has to run to town to get some more supplies."

Tbag quickly stood up to go back to the garage with Michael.

"Who are you sending?" I blurted out.

I could tell Michael didn't want to tell me. It made me want to know even more. He even glanced over to Tbag uncertainly before answering me.

"David." He muttered not wanting to say Tweener.

My Tweener! My eyes instantly perked up and that was what Michael was afraid of. I stood up confidently and drank the rest of my lemonade before handing the glass over to Jeannette.

"A supervisor should really go with him, and since you don't need me around in the garage." I said mockingly.

That was the last thing that Michael ever wanted me to say. And the best part was that he couldn't tell me no because I was his supervisor in this little game. I giddily moved away from Jeannette and started moving towards the garage. Tbag was clenching his fists at his sides and if this were any other situation he probably would have punched me or something. I moved into the garage and the others were looking at me curiously. They knew I was supposed to be inside. Tweener was standing by the door looking at me with a smile. I started to approach him.

"She said she wants a supervisor to go with him." Michael said solemnly.

I just didn't understand why they didn't trust Tweener and I together so much. I mean I understood because I was an undercover agent trying to bust them on their escape, and Tweener ratted them out to Bellick, but we had been out for a while now. It was time to get over it. I looked over to Abruzzi to see if he trusted me enough, and he slowly nodded his head and signaled for me to go. I gave him a grateful smile and moved quickly over to Tweener before they all changed their mind. Hand in hand we made our way to the car.


	25. Chapter 25

Tweener drove down the road with one hand on the steering wheel and the other was laced with mine. I can honestly say that it felt perfect just the two of us riding in this car. I couldn't help but imagine that this is how we were going to spend the rest of our lives. The thought made me look over at him and smile.

"What?" he asked grinning.

"Nothing, I just really missed this." I said leaning into him.

We were almost to town and I watched as Tweener's hand gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. Something was on his mind. I pulled away so I could look at him to try and figured out what was bothering him.

"I'm just trying to figure out, where do we go from here after we get the money?"

I grinned wide and leaned in even closer to him.

"We can go wherever we want to. Just the two of us."

Tweener smiled back at me at the thought of it finally just being the two of us. I could only imagine a dozen places that we could go to. I let out a giggle in thinking that we didn't have to just pick one place to stay either. Maybe we could spend the rest of our lives travelling the world.

"Laney I thought about you constantly when we were separated." He admitted.

I blushed and dropped my gaze to the floor. He stroked the inside of my palm with his thumb as he continued.

"I just needed to tell you things, but you weren't around so I… uh…I wrote a song about you."

My mouth dropped as I looked at Tweener with excitement. If he really wrote a song about me I wanted to hear it. He however turned his attention back to the road and dropped the conversation. He wasn't getting off that easily. I cozied up to him the best I could in the car and begged him to sing the song for me. After 16 promised kisses and 3 promised proposals later, Tweener agreed to sing me the song.

_I've been looking under rocks and breaking locks, just tryin' to find ya_

_Cause I finally found the girl of my dreams_

_That's how much you mean to me_

_Laney, you're my it girl, lovin' you could be a crime_

_So go ahead and give me 25 to life_

My jaw was getting numb from how much I was smiling at the end of that song. I clapped at the end of it and cheered for more, and I could see Tweener's ears turning red. I told him at least five or six times in a row that I loved the song and leaned over to give him a light peck on the cheek. I especially loved the part where he incorporated being in prison into the song. After all, if it weren't for a prison we might not have ever met. We finally reached town and the gas station wasn't too hard to find. Tweener quickly whipped the car into the nearest available pump. He stepped out of the car to fill it with gas, and I exited the car too. Tweener already had the gas pumping and was resting against the car when I came around and wrapped my arms around him. He buried his face in my hair and wrapped his arms around my waist. I looked up at him and wrapped both of my arms around his neck and started to lean in. He grinned and pulled me up trying to close the distance between our lips.

A car honked at us and we effectively pulled away. I let out a frustrated huff and blew my hair out of my face. All I wanted to do was to kiss Tweener and never ever pull away. Tweener rubbed the back of his neck and told me he was going to go pay for the gas. He quickly hurried inside and I rested against the car waiting for him. I just watched all of the people and the cars that went by, which wasn't too many. Only one car pulled into the gas station, and it was this big black SUV. I didn't even want to think how much it would cost to put gas in that thing. The strangest thing was that the SUV never pulled up to get gas. It was just sitting in the parking lot, and I felt like it was watching me. I looked back to the gas station, and Tweener was panicking as he bolted from the door.

"Run! Laney Run!"

I didn't even have time to register what he was saying before he grabbed my hand and we started running. The black SUV had turned his lights on and started speeding towards us. If we didn't pick up speed it was probably going to hit us. It almost did. It stopped just in time, but I had hit the side of it with my hand. I gasped when I looked in the front window and Mahone and my father were sitting in the front seat. I don't know how they found us, but I reached out for Tweener's hand again and we took off running.

**A/N: Hoped you liked this chapter! I would love to hear what you guys think of the story so far, and what you are looking forward to in the coming chapters...sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger. I know I know, before you review and tell how much of a lyrical genius I am for Tweener's rap, you should probably know that I took different lyrics from Jason Derulo's 'It Girl'. =)**


	26. Chapter 26

We kept running with the SUV right on our heels. If didn't think of a way to lose them then they would for sure catch us both. Tweener was so scared out of his mind that he could barely function so I was going to have to take the initiative here. I pulled Tweener off the road and through different people's yards. It would be a lot harder for them to catch us if they couldn't drive. I could run a lot faster than I was going, but it was hard for Tweener to keep up and I was not going to leave him behind. I urged him to go faster and we pushed through a fence in the backyard. If we could somehow just make it out of town then we might have a chance at losing Mahone.

Dogs started barking as we ran through their yard, and I broke away from Tweener as I picked up my sprint. I rounded the corner to a small alleyway where our route was effectively cut off by an extremely high fence. Tweener rounded the corner and I was standing there with my hands over my head. I was panting heavily trying to think of a way out of this. Tweener glanced back towards the first way we came and hurried over to me.

"Quick I will help you over the fence." He said taking my elbow.

I quickly nodded my head and started to climb the fence. He put on hand underneath my feet and the other on my butt as I pushed myself over the top part of the fence. I had to admit it did feel a little good to have him touch me there, but my adrenaline was pumping too hard to say anything. I tried to balance myself on the other side of the fence, but lost my balance and fell hard on the ground on my lower back. Tweener ran up to the fence and asked if I was alright. Through squinted eyes I nodded my head and pulled myself to my feet and met Tweener at the fence.

"Alright, you start climbing the fence now hurry up." I said.

Tweener shook his head and I stared at him confused. What the hell was he doing?

"No I'm staying here Laney, you have to run, quick."

What was he even talking about? I put my fingers through the fence trying to reach out for his hand. I was trying to fight back my angry tears.

"I'm not leaving you here behind. Now get over the fence!"

Tweener held onto my fingers.

"Yes you are. You are going to start running and not stop until you get back to that garage. You are going to get that money so you can visit me in prison sometime."

Now the tears were freely flowing from my eyes. I couldn't believe he was talking like this to me. Why couldn't he just try to get over the fence? I shook my head in one more fateful attempt.

"Go on Laney! Just don't forget me alright."

I was sobbing as I moved away from the fence. It felt like I was leaving a piece of me behind with me. I was running through a separate yard and hand to cover my mouth with my hand. The tears were starting to blur my vision and it was getting difficult to see. I turned around changing my mind. I had to go back and help Tweener. I couldn't just leave him there to face the wrath of Mahone and my father.

A gun shot rang out.

"No!" I choked out doubling over at my stomach. I felt like I was going to be sick.

How could I let this happen? Tweener was supposed to be the love of my life, and I had just abandoned him. I don't think I could even think about what had happened when that gun went off. Something was definitely up with Mahone, and although I didn't want to admit that my father might be involved something was definitely going on. I wiped the tears away the best I could and started running back towards the others.

I didn't stop running until I got back to the subdivision. Luckily for me I never got any trouble from the police. I finally stopped running and had to double over so I could vomit all over the sidewalk. My mouth was so dry I could hardly breathe and my whole body felt weak. I was watching the others dig and suddenly a fierce anger started bubbling up inside me. How was it fair that they were sitting in the garage joking about and laughing about God knows what while something awful might be happening to Tweener?

I bet they wanted this to happen, and that is why they sent Tweener in the first place. They wanted to get rid of him so he wouldn't get any of the money, and he would be out of their hair. I was clenching my fists tightly at my sides and I stormed over to the garage. I was not going to let them get away with this. I moved into the garage and violently kicked one of the buckets of rocks across the room. The guys were all looking at me with shocked faces.

"Laney what the hell is wrong with you?" asked C-note "Where is Tweener?"

Just hearing them say his name made me want to take all of them down. I started moving towards the door to the house. I had a few words that I needed to say to Michael. I threw open the door and stormed inside.

"MICHAEL!"

At this point, I didn't even care where Jeannette was or if she could hear me. I started moving through the house searching for Michael. The others were quick on my heels and Abruzzi put his hand on my shoulder.

"What is it Bella? What happened?"

I flinched away from his touch. I called out Michael's name again. Abruzzi kept calling out my name.

"Don't call me that! Don't ever call me that again!"

Michael, Tbag, and Jeannette came down the stairs after hearing my shouting, and Michael and Tbag were looking at me like I had lost my mind. They hadn't seen anything yet.

"Tweener just got arrested!" I shouted.

All of their eyes widened, but Jeannette was just staring confused. Tbag started to move down the stairs trying to calm me down, but I jerked away from him.

"Oh fuck off all of you!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "I know that you never wanted Tweener around, and you sent him there so we would get caught. I bet you even tipped off the police."

They were all staring at me in shock. I was fuming and my chest was heaving in and out. Tbag was glaring at me and he was trying to warn me if I said anything much further I would probably be in trouble. Jeannette had her head titled to the side confused.

"What is she talking about? One of you got arrested?"

As always, Michael had to try and mend the current situation.

"He is my younger brother-in-law, and he has been in trouble with the law all of his life. We felt sorry for him and gave him this job to try and straighten him out."

Michael was only adding fuel to the fire.

"That's right Michael lie yourself out of a problem just like usual. As long as you benefit from it you don't care who gets hurt in the process. You don't think that Jeannette would want to know that there were a bunch of escaped convicts digging up her garage for some buried cash."

I had blurted out that sentence before I could even stop myself. Jeannette was staring at me in shock along with Michael and most of the others. Tbag was looking at me like I had just overstepped by boundaries and I was in for trouble. The tears were starting to brim my eyes. Every second I spent here yelling at these guys was wasting time for me to do something to help Tweener. I just had to help him before Mahone did anything to hurt him.

"I think you all should leave now." Said Jeannette.

"Please we are almost finished, just let us get done and we will be gone." Michael tried to reason.

"No I want you all to get out now!" she screamed.

Great, just great. Now they were all going to blame me for losing their money for them, and I would have to deal with that later. Right now my top priority was Tweener, and he was the only thing I could think about. A car door slammed just outside of the house and we all turned our attention towards the door panicked. Sucre peered out of the window.

"Holy shit, it's a cop." He said.

The other guys nearly went into a panic, and Jeannette prayed to the lord and quickly started moving towards the door. Clearly she had never met Theodore Bagwell before and knew that he was not going down without a fight. He quickly grabbed her by her hair and slipped his arm around her throat. He pulled a knife out of his pocket (I know such a surprise right?) and held it up to the throat. The rest of us all looked on with nervous faces as the front door started to open.


	27. Chapter 27

We were all just standing there panicked. Tbag pulled Jeannette away from the door and were hiding under the stairs. The others followed suit, and found other places to hide. I was just standing in the middle of the room staring wide eyed at the door. It opened and a young looking woman wearing a police uniform came strolling through the door. She hadn't set eyes on me yet.

"Mom, are you here?" she called out.

Mom? Oh God, she must be Jeannette's daughter, and in fact she probably lived here. The house was plenty big enough. Once she was completely in the house, she turned her body and came face to face with me. She was standing there with equally as wide of eyes as I was, and for a moment neither of us tried to move. It didn't take her long though before she pulled out her gun and pointed in right at me. I let out a panicked shriek and put my hands up in surrender. She started shouting at me not to move and asked me what the hell I was doing here? I turned my eyes away from her briefly when I saw Lincoln slowly walking up behind her. She noticed my being distracted and took a swing back at Lincoln, but he was too fast and grabbed her by the arm making her drop the gun. It slid across the floor and I made a move for it. It was right at my feet and I knelt down to pick it up, but Abruzzi grabbed me by the back of my hair and yanked me backwards. I stumbled a bit and gave him a confused look. I started to walk towards the gun again, but he blocked my path and when I tried to push past him but he was quicker and took out the knife he was hiding and rammed it into my shoulder.

I screamed out and stumbled back against the wall. A searing pain was shaking through my entire body and I could see the blood stain soaking on my shirt. What freaked me out the most was that the blade was still sticking out of my shoulder. I sank to the ground and was trying to catch my breath. The others were all staring at me with shocked faces. I was wondering why they all weren't staring at Abruzzi, he was the one that did this. Jeannette and her daughter were looking on equally as surprised. If they so easily could hurt me when I was with them, then they were seriously in danger.

Tbag dragged Jeannette over to one of the chairs with her kicking and screaming the entire way. Once he placed her in the chair, he ripped the phone cord right from the console and tied her hands together and found something to gag her mouth. Her daughter quickly followed suit. Tbag stole a glance in my direction, and I could tell he thought about tying me up, but at this point I couldn't move a muscle. Every breath I took caused the knife in my arm to throb with pain. Michael walked over to me and knelt down so he was at my eye level. I turned my gaze away from him because I couldn't stomach to look at him.

"Are you alright?" he whispered.

"What the fuck do you think?" I spat without looking at him.

"You don't have to believe me, but I promise you that I didn't want this to happen." He tried to explain.

I was trying to fight back the tears forming in my eyes. He just didn't get it did he. Yes, I was upset that once again Tweener was in a problematic situation because of these guys, but I was more afraid than anything. And I felt guilty that I had left Tweener to suffer alone. We were supposed to go through things together and I abandoned him.

"You know what I think about Mahone, and if anything happens to him I can't continue this journey with you Michael." I threatened. "If he goes down, then you all are going down."

Michael didn't say anything but let out a frustrated sigh. I was starting to feel a little lightheaded from the blood loss.

"What do you want me to do about it Laney?"

"I want you to fix it. You would do it for your brother or Sara because you love them. Well, I know how you feel because I love Tweener."

I knew it was probably a low blow bringing up Sara to try and guilt trip Michael, but I was desperate at this point. Every second we wasted here was the more that we put Tweener at risk. I turned my face back to Michael and gave him my biggest puppy dog eyes. He looked at me, but didn't say anything. He stood up and walked over to his brother. He said that the knife was going to have to be removed from my shoulder. No shit Sherlock. Michael then turned his attention to Jeannette and his daughter.

"This probably doesn't mean anything, but I am sorry that this is happening. Just give us an hour or two to find the money and we will be out of here."

I rolled my eyes. When it was all said and done the only thing that mattered was the money. Michael needed to speak with his brother alone, but he told the others to quickly get to work in digging out that money. The others started moving back into the garage, and Sucre volunteered to stay in and keep an eye on the hostages. Tbag also stayed behind briefly, but his eyes alone were resting on me. He moved into the kitchen and grabbed two towels, rinsing one of them under the water. I suddenly became slightly apprehensive when he approached me.

"That knife has got to come out," he said.

My whole body tensed up. I wasn't really sure if I wanted Tbag to touch my wound and make sure that he didn't do more damage. But at this point, I couldn't try to move away from him even if I tried. He knelt down beside me and wrapped the wet towel around my wound causing me to cry out. My heart was starting to pound harder.

"Does this bring back memories Laneykins? Although, I do recall last time I was putting the knife in as opposed to taking it out."

I gave him a glare but I didn't have the energy to try and hit him or move away. The towel was wrapped snuggly around my wound and Tbag took his hand and wrapped it around the handle of the knife. He told me to brace myself because this was going to hurt. I tensed up my body and gritted my teeth, and Tbag pulled the knife right out of my body. Needless to say, I let out a pretty loud scream. My feet were thrashing around wildly on the ground as Tbag held the bloodied knife. My chest was throbbing and the blood was pouring profusely. Tbag clenched the wet towel around my wound, and was getting ready to switch over to the dry towel. He told me that he wanted me to hold the towel in place so he could find some bandages. I nodded my head and we quickly made the switch. I was heavily breathing in and out as I held the towel in place.

Tbag stood up and moved through the house trying to find some bandages. My eyes followed his every move and I suddenly felt nauseous. I would have felt really bad for throwing up all over Jeannette's floor after everything she is going through so I tried to hold it in. Tbag returned with some tape to wrap around the towel. I had to sit up off the wall a little bit and a few tears escaped my eyes as I let out a gasp. Tbag pulled the tape open with his teeth and then gave me a funny look.

"You're going to need to take your shirt off," he said biting his lip.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Of course he was going to have to take my shirt off. I titled my head upward to look at the ceiling and Tbag started working my shirt up. We realized that we were going to run into problems when I wasn't going to be able to lift my arm into the air. Tbag reached his own solution by ripping my shirt right off my back. My face turned red as Tbag started wrapping the tape around the towel. I was surprised at seeing him keep his eyes focused on my wound rather than….well other places. Once the towel was firmly in place, Tbag helped me to my feet. I was about ready to thank him when he smacked me hard across the face. It made me stumble back against the wall. He lunged forward and grabbed my face squishing my cheeks together.

"That little stunt nearly cost us the money, and I heard you threaten to turn us in if the kid goes down."

He leaned in very close so our noses were practically touching.

"I do not intend on going back to Fox River, and I will stop anyone that tries to get in my way. And that includes someone as precious as you."

He asked me if I understood him, and angrily nodded my head. I jerked out of his grip, which caused pain to surge through my shoulder. I moved away from him, and tried with all of might not to move my shoulder as I walked through the house towards the garage. The others were busy at work in the garage, and they weren't too pleased to see me. I stumbled way over to one of the empty buckets so I could rest on it. Abruzzi was staring right at me, and I gave him my most hateful glare for stabbing me, but he only grinned.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Wow! Sorry it has taken me absolutely forever to get this chapter posted...I can explain the reason for this in just two words...COLLEGE SUCKS! Anyway the good news is that I only have two weeks left, and then I am free to write all summer. I am hoping to start being able to post again every day, but no promises. I won't keep you any longer from reading this story...enjoy =)**

I felt like I just sat there for an eternity and no one said a word to me while they were digging. I figured they were all still pretty pissed off for me busting them to Jeannette and her daughter. They just couldn't see that the only reason I lost control like that was because I felt like they were taking Tweener away from me. Just thinking about it now was making me tense up and being tense was hurting my shoulder. Luckily, there was a tiny TV in the garage and they had it turned on watching the news. I could distract myself by watching it. Most of it was pretty boring, just this news lady reading things off of the prompt. The only thing that the country wanted to hear about was the Fox River 8.

"There are certain inmates to be on special lookout for, such as Theodore Bagwell. That man does not belong in regular society," she stated confidently.

A picture of Tbag came onto the screen and I had to admit that it made jump at how scary he looked. Tbag approached the TV and stared at his picture. Then he scoffed.

"The picture makes me look like a damn psychopath," he said.

I looked over at the TV and tilted my head to the side while looking at the picture.

"More like a sociopath," I mocked.

Tbag looked at me, but he wasn't smiling. Apparently, he didn't think my joke was so funny. That's just fine because I didn't want him to think it was funny. I was still mad at all of them and any chance to hurt them I was going to take. The next thing that came on the TV was an update on the Burrows Jr. case. My ears instantly perked up and leaned in closer towards the TV. I wasn't the only one either. Lincoln had stopped digging altogether and moved to stand just inches from the TV. The news lady was saying that due to a lack of sufficient evidence the police had no choice but to release him to the general public. Lincoln started clenching his fists at his sides. I had to admit that it was a little suspicious that they were just releasing LJ. I was a little surprised that the police weren't trying to gather some more evidence first. My question was what was going to happen after they released him? Where was he going to go? Suddenly, Lincoln stormed back into the house. Michael was quick to follow him and I wasn't going to miss out on that conversation. I hoisted myself up onto my feet and after wincing at the quick pain in my shoulder I followed them inside. Right as I was about to go into the door, Abruzzi pulled me back.

"Let go of me," I snarled at him.

Knowing Abruzzi so well, he completely ignored by command and pulled me into the house but not in the direction of Michael and Lincoln. I tried to struggle against him, but with my wounded shoulder it proved difficult. He led me down one of the hallways and we passed Sucre guarding the two women. Sucre looked worriedly at me like he was afraid that Abruzzi was going to hurt me, but he quickly masked it up in remembering that he was supposed to be angry with me. Abruzzi pulled me to a secluded space and spun me around so my back hit the wall. He put both of his arms on the sides of my face.

"What come to stab me in my other arm?"

He smirked at me.

"Bella would you just relax. I brought you down here so you don't make a bigger fool of yourself."

I had no idea what he was talking about. How was I going to make a bigger fool of myself by going to see what Lincoln and Michael were discussing? I opened my mouth to say something, but Abruzzi cut me off.

"You would have went in there to listen to them, and the first time you heard something you didn't like you would have blown up on them."

I opened my mouth to start defending myself but nothing was coming out. Abruzzi chuckled at me and I sucked in my cheeks in embarrassment. Being the stubborn person that I am, I tried to deny everything by forcibly shaking my head.

"Oh really, so what if Michael and Lincoln decided to just cancel this whole operation to decide to go get his son out of jail?"

"They can't do that! We can't just leave Tweener here!" I blurted out.

Abruzzi raised his eyebrows at me to make his point. I let out a frustrated huff and lifted my shoulders in the air causing me to wince in pain.

"How's the arm?" he asked reaching out to flick the hair off of my shoulder.

"It hurts like a bitch," I spat. "Thanks for that, and here I thought we were passed you hurting me."

"I didn't stab you to hurt you." Abruzzi smirked.

I raised my eyebrows at him. Oh yes, it was so common to stab your friends because you weren't trying to hurt them.

"I was trying to distract you so you didn't end up getting yourself killed," he stated confidently.

I tilted my head clearly not understanding his methods for kindness. He let out a frustrated sigh that he was going to have to explain it to me again.

"You were ranting and raving like a crazy woman spilling our secrets everywhere. If you had continued T-bag would have no doubt put his knife in your throat. So I did the only thing that could distract you. I put you in pain."

I remained standing where I was, just staring at Abruzzi. I tried to open my mouth to say something once, but nothing came out. When I thought back, I was so obsessed with what had happened to Tweener that I was doing exactly what Abruzzi said. I folded my arms across my chest and refused to admit that Abruzzi was doing something nice for me. Abruzzi smirked and cupped my face in his hands.

"Trust me Bella, when I am doing something to hurt you, you'll know it."

I pouted my lips and jerked myself away from Abruzzi. He chuckled and followed right behind me. Abruzzi gave me a smile and a light pat on the shoulder, which made me flinch. Together, we walked back to the main living room where Sucre was sitting with Jeannette and her daughter. I looked around the room a few times trying to find the brothers, but I didn't see them anywhere. Sucre noticed who I was looking for.

"They left." He stated.

I stared at him in confusion. What did he mean that they left? Surely, he was just talking about that they left the house and went back to the garage. Abruzzi asked if they went back outside, but Sucre slowly shook his head. I peered out the window, and one of the cars was missing.

"Where are they Sucre?" I snapped.

"Well, Lincoln took the car and took off so he could pick up his son."

"Did Michael go with him?"

I would have been angry beyond words could describe if Michael just got up and left all of us to finish the digging for him.

"No, Lincoln went alone."

"Then where is he?"

"Christ mami, I am trying to explain it to you. Can you let me just talk without interrupting por favor?"

Abruzzi started sniggering to himself, and I glared over in his direction. I looked back over to Sucre and pretended to lock my mouth with a key and tossed it over my shoulder. He grinned at me before continuing.

"Michael looked pretty upset when Lincoln took off for LJ. It almost looked like Michael didn't think he could do this on his own without his brother."

I felt a little hurt that Michael thought he was completely alone without his brother. Didn't he realize that he had me, and I would go through anything with him.

"Anyway, Michael suddenly snapped out of it and told me to make sure that everyone else kept digging. He said that he would be back as quick as possible, and then he just ran out the front door."

I realized that Sucre was done telling his story, and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"That's it! He didn't say where he was going, or what he was doing?" Sucre shook his head.

"What an idiot! Tweener just got arrested, and the police are swarming all over the area. He is going to do something to get himself arrested."

I was fuming again, and practically shouting at the top of my lungs. It was just so hard to believe that Michael would act this recklessly just because his brother had left. Whatever he was doing out there, I hope it was worth it. Abruzzi put his hand on my heaving shoulder trying to calm me down. Surprisingly, it worked.

"Why don't we all get back to digging so the others don't suspect anything is out of the ordinary?"

Sucre I and both nodded our heads. I started heading for the door to the garage, but Abruzzi grabbed a hold of my elbow.

"No Bella, let Sucre go out and dig for a while. You being on hostage patrol," he said with a wink.

I let out a huff and stormed over to trade places with Sucre. He looked relieved and eagerly joined Abruzzi, who told me he would check in on me in a little while. I watched them leave and I turned my attention back to the two women. They were both giving me looks, but not looks of anger or fear. They were almost looking at me with pity because I got myself stuck in this situation. I moved over to Jeannette's daughter and lightly touched the gag in her mouth.

"If you promise me that you aren't going to cause her trouble I can take this out of your mouth."

She stared at me briefly before nodding her head. I lightly pulled the gag out of her mouth and rested it around her neck. She shook her jaw out a few times and muttered a quick thank you. I smiled at her and moved over to remove the gag out of Jeannette's mouth.

"Can you please give me my pills in the bottom drawer over there?" the daughter asked nodding with her head over to the kitchen.

I moved over to the kitchen and fiddled around in the drawer until I found the bottle of prescription drugs. It had her name on it and was described as prenatal vitamins. Guilt instantly started to wash over me as I realized that this poor woman was pregnant. I also became a little worried that the stress of this whole situation was going to send her into early labor. I quickly glanced back in her direction and laughed to myself for much of an idiot I was being. She couldn't be more than a few months along, and was barely showing. I highly doubted she was going to go into early labor. I walked back over to where she was sitting and fed her two pills and helped her swallow the water. She muttered a thanks once again. I bit my lip nervously.

"So, um…. when are you due?"

She smiled.

"Towards the end of the year," she stated proudly.

I smiled at her, and felt just a little jealousy towards her happiness. I have always loved children and couldn't wait to be a mom someday. Now, with everything that has happened, I'm not sure I wanted to bring a child into this mess, and realizing that hurt a lot. I dropped my head in disappointment, and the daughter noticed.

"You don't seem or act like a criminal at all, how did you get mixed up with these guys?"

My eyes quickly darted up to look at her face. I couldn't believe that she had just asked me that. I guess she was really lucky that I wasn't truly dangerous, or she might have been hurt for that remark.

"Well, I probably don't act like a criminal because I usually am the one catching criminals. I worked undercover in the prison they escaped from."

Jeannette and her daughter both gasped. I smiled to myself, although I don't know why. I guess it had something to do with all of my memories during my stay at Fox River. True that some of them were gruesome and horrible, but some of them also weren't so bad. The daughter was staring at me for some sort of explanation.

"I worked for the FBI, then sent me to the prison undercover to find some evidence against John Abruzzi."

"And so now you're their hostage?" Jeannette dramatically gasped. I reached back and grabbed the back of my neck.

"Well, not exactly." They both stared at me confused.

"I did try to stop their escape, and at first I was with them against my will, but now I am here because I want to be." God, that even sounded awful to me so imagine what they were thinking.

"Why?"

I blew out a sigh.

"You probably recognized the one as Lincoln Burrows. Well, I came to believe that he was innocent, and I wasn't comfortable with letting him be executed. We think he was set out, and are trying to find out who did this to him."

Jeannette just looked completely lost, and the daughter looked at me like I was insane. This was just impossible to explain without the full story of what happened.

"The others aren't so bad either. Most of them aren't dangerous, and I guess you could say I have become sort of attached to them."

"Poor girl," Jeannette said.

I scowled at her making her flinch with fright. She looked at me like I was the nutcase who fell in love with all of these guys and couldn't leave them behind. She just didn't understand the bonds I had created with them.

"Who's your favorite?" the daughter asked.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Did I really not have a favorite guy, or did I just not want to admit who it might be?

"The kid," said Jeannette winking at me. It did cause me to laugh.

"Well he is my favorite for different reasons," I giggled.

"How could you be in love with an inmate?" the daughter snapped.

I clenched my fists at my sides. It was what happened anyone ever talked negatively about Tweener. Just thinking about Tweener made my insides twist and turn uncomfortably.

"Trust me, Tweener is harmless. The reason he was in prison most people would be shocked by."

I could tell the daughter didn't believe me, but it wasn't her place to judge. I knew these guys better than anyone else, and most of them would honest good guys, but it was almost impossible to ever convince anybody. The only person I ever convinced of Lincoln's innocence was Melanie, and it ended up getting her killed. My insides were twisting even more with guilt.

"Alright, the big Italian guy you seem to be pretty close to, except for when he stabbed you."

"He was my cell mate during my stay at the prison, and I do care for him a lot. It sounds crazy, but him stabbing me was his way of showing me that he cares about me too. Believe me, he is capable of much worse."

"What about that southern man? He is downright terrifying?" Jeannette said shaking.

"Pretty much all of my bad memories in Fox River were because of him, but I can't lie I care about him too."

They were both just staring at me in silence.

"He has tried to kill me on a number of occasions, but strangely I worry about his safety too. We have a connection that is extremely hard to explain, and I don't really understand it myself. I think in a way we both need each other."

I became very silent at my realization. It was the one thing I kept pushing to the back of my mind and I never wanted to admit it to myself, but I couldn't deny it any longer.

I needed Tbag because I loved him.


	29. Chapter 29

I was just staring at Jeannette and her daughter with wide eyes. Thank the lord that they didn't hear my little outburst about Tbag. I didn't even wait for them to say anything before I was sprinting through the house towards the garage. This didn't make any sense. I couldn't be in love with Tbag, and I needed to remind myself of all the reasons why I shouldn't be in love with Tbag. The first and most obvious reason was that I was in love with Tweener. He was the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I could see my future with him. It was likely that Tbag would kill me before we ever had a future together. The second reason was that Tbag had tried to kill like a million times. How do you fall in love with someone that hurts you? And I couldn't love someone when I knew that they were hurting other people. What kind of a monster would that make me?

I smirked to myself when I realized that I could tell myself all of the reasons I shouldn't love Tbag, but it didn't matter because it wouldn't change the way I feel. The one thing I was sure of, though, was that Tbag could never ever find out about my feelings. If he did, then Tbag wouldn't rest until I was his, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could resist him. I finally reached the garage and stopped just short of the open door. I caught a glimpse of Tbag standing outside the hole they were digging, and a smile started to creep on my face.

Oh my god, this was going to be harder than I thought.

I nearly jumped out of my shoes when the guys all started cheering. I burst through the door to see Sucre waving around handfuls of money. My mouth dropped. They actually found Westmoreland's money, and it looked like a lot of money too because C-note and Abruzzi were pulling out two different crates full of cash. I made eye contact with Tbag and smiled at him. He grinned back. I moved a little closer to the money to make sure that the money was real. It was extremely filthy and dirty and old, but other than that this was real loot. I laughed out loud to myself. I couldn't believe that something was actually going right for us in finding the money. Michael would be so impressed.

"Looks like Johnny KKK is going to get his Asian hand after all," mocked C-note.

We all busted out laughing, except for Tbag of course. I think he was offended that he might actually have a hand that belonged to a different race. It made me giggle even more. Then I hated myself for giggling at Tbag. He could probably sense that I was acting different, and knowing him he would confront me about it later. I jumped again when I heard a police siren go by. The others looked just as worried as I did, we needed to get the money out of here before we all got busted. Abruzzi went and grabbed the bags that Michael left to put the money in. We all started loading the money into the bags, and somehow Tbag ended up right next to me. My body tensed up and I tried to distract myself by throwing the money into the bag.

"Looks like we are going to be rich Laneykins," he said.

I smiled and nodded my head at him, but didn't say anything. My hands were shaking as I grabbed the next handful of money.

"What's wrong with you? You're acting different." He growled.

I shut my eyes and was trying to think of anything to say besides the truth.

"I uh…. I'm just worried about Tweener," I said. At least that part wasn't a lie. I was terrified that I was never going to see Tweener again.

Tbag started tapping his chin like he was trying to think of something. He then reached his hand out to stroke my arm. I flinched.

"You can always come with me to the black market," he offered.

I stopped sorting the money and looked up at him. He was grinning and waving his dead hand back and forth. I smiled at him and shook my head. I didn't really want to tell him that I had no desire to help him get another hand, but I was afraid of his reaction. I started to turn away, but Tbag grabbed ahold of my chin and was stroking it with his thumb. I was just watching him with fearful eyes.

"Something's off with you, but I can't place my finger on it," he said biting his lip.

I had really hoped that he would just let this go, but he started inching his face closer to mine. My breathing started to pick up and my fists were clenching at my sides.

"Stop it." I said.

Tbag smirked at me and went to place a kiss on my forehead. My whole body tensed up and I felt my face flushing. Tbag pulled back and I dropped my face to the floor. I really just needed to get away from him before he figured out why I was acting this way. Tbag gently grabbed my chin and brought my face up to look at him. I hoped that my cheeks weren't red. Tbag smiled at me and opened his mouth to say something.

"Michael." said Abruzzi.

Tbag and I both turned to the door to see Michael standing there smiling. He was covered in sweat, and I didn't see anything in his hands. So, what did he leave for if he didn't bring anything back.

"Glad to see you came back," said Sucre, "as you can see when struck gold."

Michael took one look at the money and let out a big grin. Seeing him grin was enough to make me smile. He was in such a good mood right now, and I was curious to know what caused it. Maybe he met up with Sara?

"Sorry, I just had to go get someone." Explained Michael.

Now I was certain that he met up with Sara and she was standing in the house. I heard the footsteps behind Michael, and everyone turned their heads to see who would be coming up behind him. I expected to see the long dark hair of Sara, but this person had much shorter hair. He had a bruise right above his eye and various scrapes and cuts, but he didn't look that bad. Everyone was staring back and forth between him and me like they couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe, I really couldn't believe it. It was so silent I could hear the crickets. My eyes went wide, my mouth dropped, my whole body started to tremble, and I could feel the tears in my eyes as he grinned at me. I leaped over one of the crates of money and jumped into Tweener's arms. The tears were now streaming now my face and I was sobbing a little too loudly. Tweener was laughing and he buried his face in my hair. I pushed all my weight forward into Tweener, and he was knocked off balance causing us to fall to the ground.

"It's good to see you too Laney," Tweener teased.

I brought my face up to his and he was trying to wipe away my tears with his thumbs. I couldn't even say anything, I just pressed my lips to his. Needless to say it wasn't our finest kiss. I was still crying all over the place, and our audience was laughing at us. I leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"I love you."


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Yay Summer is here! =) I can't believe chapter 30 is up already, and I personally am excited for this point in the story, and I hope you guys are too! Thanks to all who have read and reviewed my work, you guys have no idea how much it means to me. Anyway, enough of my speech... enjoy =) **

I kept my arms wrapped securely around Tweener afraid that if I let go I was going to lose him again. He wrapped one of his arms tightly around my waist and kissed me a few times on my forehead. Even though he was trying to hide it, I could feel him trembling and I figured that Mahone must have scared the shit out of him. Mahone scared the shit out of me so I imagined that he terrified Tweener. My eyes flickered over to Tbag and he was looking at me with a frustrated glare. If I had to guess I would say that he was hoping Tweener didn't come back so he could take me with him. The thought made me rest my head against Tweener's chest in an awkward way. Now that they were both around, I was going to have to sort out these feelings.

"How did you get away man?" asked C-note curiously.

"Check it, I don't even know. One minute I am walking up to this door of a friend of mine getting ready to turn myself in, and Michael is standing the doorway. I ripped the microphone from my chest and took off sprinting."

I looked over to Michael and started to feel slightly embarrassed and grateful. I felt bad for screaming at all of the guys earlier, especially Michael. I knew how much he hated to feel guilty over things, but it motivated him to save Tweener and that is something I will never forget. Michael only smiled and nodded his head at me, and I mouthed a quick thank you. Tweener's hand around my waist gave me a playful poke, and I grinned looking up at him.

"Hey wait a second…. Who is this friend you went to see?" I asked playfully.

It worried me a little that the color started to drain from Tweener's face. It made me even more curious to find out who this person was. I broke out of Tweener's hold and folded my arms across my chest.

"No one, they were just somebody I shared a ride with to Utah."

"Calm down Laney, it's not like it was some woman," said Abruzzi with a smile.

I smiled back at Abruzzi until I saw Tweener drop his gaze to the floor.

"It was a woman wasn't it!" I accused.

"I just met her in St. Louis, and she wanted a riding buddy to Utah." Tweener explained.

"Is that what they are calling it these days? A 'riding buddy'." Said Tbag.

I raised my eyebrows at the thought that there was something he wasn't telling me. Tweener gave Tbag a hateful glare for butting in to the conversation.

"Nothing happened Laney I swear. We just had to stay a couple of nights in a motel."

My fingernails were slicing into the skin in my palm. I didn't know who this woman was, but right now I really wanted to punch her a few times. I realize that it really wasn't Tweener's fault, but I couldn't stop myself from being angry. I was angry and jealous that this woman was getting to spend time with Tweener when I have had very little time.

"People say nothing happened first when they usually have something to hide," threatened Tbag.

I looked over to Tbag, and he winked at me. Tweener was giving him a look that could kill. I knew that Tbag was just trying to cause trouble, but it still hurt to think that Tweener could ever be with someone else. Tweener slowly reached out for my hand.

"Laney, please."

I gave him my best attempt at a smile.

"I'm going to go check on the other women." I said not wanting to refer to them as hostages.

Tweener release my hand defeated and turned to walk away from him. I just needed a few minutes to calm myself down. The others were all looking at me with worried looks except for Tbag who was smiling proudly. As I neared the door, I was roughly grabbed around the waist and my back was pulled into someone's chest. I heard the click of a gun as the barrel was pressed against my head. The others were staring wide eyed as Sucre held me at gunpoint.

"What the hell are you doing?" snapped C-note.

"I want the money." He hissed. "All of it."

I struggled against his hold, but he only gripped me tighter and pushed the gun further into my head.

"There is only one of you, how do you plan on stopping all of us?" asked Abruzzi.

Sucre took his free hand and punched me right in my bad shoulder. I let out shriek of pain and could feel the tears stinging my eyes. Sucre proved his point because when he punched me the others moved into defensive mode. Tbag and Tweener both were ready to rip out Sucre's throat.

"I don't have to take you all on because you won't dare as long as I have her. Now hand me the damn bag!"

Michael was quick in handing over the bag of money to Sucre. A little too quick in my opinion. Sucre started moving towards the door leading to the outside, and he was pulling me along with him. The others watched with hatred as Sucre shoved me to the ground and quickly ran away. Abruzzi and C-note followed Sucre outside while Tweener helped me to my feet. I would have to explain to him later what happened to my shoulder. Tbag looked as if he could cry. Abruzzi and C-note came back into the garage with disappointed looks on their faces because Sucre had vanished with the money. We all remained standing in the garage shocked at what had just happened. I couldn't believe that Sucre would just take all the money for himself because that just wasn't like his personality. I tightened my grip around Tweener's hand.

"Well, this is just great." Seethed Tbag.

Everyone turned and glared at him. We were all aware of the badness of the situation and didn't need him to remind us.

"What are we going to do now?" asked C-note.

Michael put his hands over his head trying to think of a plan.

"Let's go back inside and come up with something to get that money back," suggested Abruzzi.

Everyone agreed and started moving towards the house. I didn't want to say anything right now, but we were also going to have to figure out some way to deal with Jeannette and her daughter. I let go of Tweener's hand as we moved towards the house, but I noticed that Tbag wasn't moving. He had a concerned look on his face so I decided to stay back with him to see what was bothering him. Tweener wanted me to come in the house, but I kissed him on the cheek and told him to go ahead. At first Tbag didn't see me because he was staring at the floor clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Everything ok, T?" I asked.

His head snapped up in my direction and he punched me right in the face. I grunted in pain as I went crashing to the floor. I landed on my ass and looked at Tbag with my now throbbing face. What the hell did he do that for? I was only trying to make sure he was alright. He was staring down at me with rage, and he was standing defensively in front of one of the bags. I first thought he was angry with me for Tweener being back, but I glanced towards the bag and my eyes widened when I saw money sticking out of it. Tbag was the one swindling all of us; Sucre didn't have the money, he did. Tbag realized what I was staring at and emitted a low growl.

"I wish you hadn't seen that Laneykins."

I sensed what was coming and pulled myself to my feet and Tbag lunged at me. I started moving towards the door to the house to call out to Tweener, but Tbag stuffed his dead hand into my mouth. He used his other arm and wrapped it around my waist and started yanking me backwards. I kicked against him and struggled left and right until I was out of his grasp. I stood my ground and Tbag stalked around me. If he actually thought he could fight me with one hand he had another thing coming. I was trained by the FBI dammit. He lunged at me, and I tried to kick his legs so he would fall over on his face. When he was in my eye sight I swung my arm to punch him, but I instead let out a small whimper at the searing pain shooting through my shoulder. Apparently, I was only going to be able to fight with one hand too. Thanks a lot John.

Tbag jumped in the air and tackled me to the ground. He put all of his weight on my hips so as much as I kicked against him I wasn't going anywhere. He wrapped his hand around my throat and started to squeeze. Everything around me started to get fuzzy. I moved my arms like crazy around the floor trying to find anything to pick up. I opened my mouth to try and catch my breath, but it only constricted my airflow more. My eyes were starting to water and I was for sure that I was going to get killed by Tbag. He finally released my throat and my chest heaved heavily trying to get a breath. Tbag growled again and backhanded me across the face. And he did it again. And again. And again. And again.

I was just barely conscious enough to function when Tbag finally got off of me. My eyes followed him across the room as he lifted the bag of money. He whipped it over his shoulder and started to stalk towards me once again. He quickly grabbed a hold of my hair and forced me onto my feet. I could barely stand and had to rest my body against Tbag. He held onto me firmly and started dragging me outside. I tried to struggle and fight against him but it proved useless. My only hope was that I would be able to slow him down enough that the others could catch him. To my disappointment, Tbag wasn't planning on running. He started to make his way towards a car. I started to panic and began to call out for Tweener. Tbag growled and started picking up his pace to the car. This was absolute bull shit, I thought I was going to lose Tweener, and I finally get him back and now was being taken from him.

I was so annoyed that I found my second wind and started fighting Tbag. He was getting annoyed with me and hurried over to the car. I opened my mouth to let out a scream or two. Tbag clenched the back of my head and slammed me face first into the window of the car. My blood smeared across the glass as I fell to the ground. He quickly put the bag of money into the seat of the car, and while he was distracted I attempted to crawl away. A hand wrapped itself around my waist and lifted me into the air. I frantically thrashed my feet about in one final attempt. Tbag already had the trunk of the car open and was trying to force me inside. My back hit the carpet of the trunk and my arms were still flailing about. Tears were streaming down my face and I looked up to Tbag trying to plead my way out of this.

"Please T." I whimpered.

I could see his eyes suddenly change to regret and he slightly loosened his grip. But only briefly.

"I'm sorry."

He tightened his grip on me once again and raised his hand in the air. It only took one blow to my head before everything went black.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Hello all! Hope everyone is having an exciting summer! Sorry for the lack of updates...I just got back from my vacation. I am really hoping to be able to update more frequently over the summer! Here is the next chapter... so enjoy =)**

I jolted myself back to consciousness. It was pitch black everywhere except for a sliver of light poking through the trunk door. I knitted my eyebrows together trying to get a sense of exactly where I was. Then the memories all came flooding back to me. I was still in the trunk of the car and no doubt Tbag was speeding down some road. I fought back my tears as I attempted to sit myself up in this tiny, cramped space. I just wanted Tweener to hold me in his arms and now I was facing the horrifying truth that I might never see him again. Would he even try to find me? A wave of dizziness hit me as I lifted my head. I crashed back onto the floor and tried to prevent myself from getting sick. I had absolutely no idea where we were at, but Tbag ran over a bump rocking me over and flipping me onto my stomach. I groaned in discomfort and forced myself to keep my balance. I just hoped that wherever Tbag was taking me we would quickly get there.

I had no idea how much time had passed when I felt the engine stop. My whole body tensed up as I heard a car door slam. Tbag was getting closer to the trunk. There were just seconds of silence in the dark before the trunk door was quickly ripped open. The bright light burned my eyes, and I was squinting as Tbag grabbed ahold of my shirt and yanked me from the car. My body was so weak and ready to shut down so I collapsed myself against Tbag for support. I attempted to glance around at my settings, but I couldn't recognize anything. That is because we were literally nowhere. Tbag had parked the car on the side of the road and there was no sign of civilization for miles. It was probably a good thing because I knew in my condition I would draw attention and the fact that people would probably stare if Tbag was pulling some woman out of a car. I opened my mouth to say something, but Tbag just started pulling me along the side of the car. He threw open the door to the passenger side and threw me in the seat. I landed more on the floor than in the seat, and Tbag quickly moved back to the driver's side and took off. I avoided eye contact with him as I pulled myself into the seat.

"Listen to me very carefully," he growled, "I am going to stop to get gas at the next town we get to. Don't do anything stupid."

The threatening tone in his voice was enough to make me shiver. I just nodded my head and moved to stare out the window. My arms felt like bricks as I lifted them up to my face where I tried to wipe some of the blood away from my mouth and nose. I really didn't want Tbag to see me crying, but I don't think there was an inch of my body that wasn't either in pain or discomfort. I let a few tears escape before I heard Tbag snort. I didn't turn to look at him.

"That's a pretty little tattoo you have on your neck." He mocked.

I raised my eyebrow confused, and moved to look at myself in one of the mirrors. I gasped as I saw the red finger marks around the bluish area of my neck. My neck was so swollen I was surprised that I wasn't having trouble breathing. I then got a good look at the rest of my face. I had bruises on both cheeks from him hitting me, a bleeding nose and mouth, and I had a black eye on my left eye. My hands started to shake in my lap, and I could feel more tears coming. How could Tbag do this to me? I dropped my head in shame and let the tears fall freely. I only glanced up when we finally drove into a small town. I wouldn't really call it a town except for the fact that it had a gas station. Tbag quickly pulled in to the nearest gas pump and pulled his hat over his eyes before exiting the car. I watched a couple of people enter and exit the gas station, and there was this young girl and guy with their fingers laced. I could feel the tears starting again, and I wiped them away with my hand and sniveled a few times. I wanted to be somewhere holding hands with Tweener, not stuck in this car against my will with Tbag.

I watched him as he finished filling the car with gas, and he took a glance in my direction. After one threatening and hateful stare he started to storm into the gas station to pay. I couldn't help but wonder how I far I could get if I tried to run away right now. In my condition I wouldn't even make it up the road, and I would be in so much trouble with Tbag he would probably break both of my ankles to prevent me from running. I looked back over to the door to see Tbag come back outside carrying two sacks. My eyes followed his every move as he put the sacks in the back seat next to the bag of money. He slammed the door shut and hurried back over to the driver's side.

"What's in the sacks?" I asked dryly.

He didn't answer me. Hell, he didn't even look in my direction. He just turned off onto the road and sped away quickly. I leaned by throbbing head against the window and tried to shut my eyes and take a small rest. God knows, I needed it. I don't know how long I had my eyes closed before Tbag was swerving the car off the road. I gasped and jerked awake, causing me immense pain. Tbag pulled the car over to the side of the road (a deserted old dirt road) and quickly got out of the car. I figured that this was the moment that Tbag was going to kill me brutally and dump my body on the side of the road. The sad part was that I didn't think I had the energy or the will to try and fight him. Hopefully, he would just get it over with quickly. He threw open the door to the back seat and was digging around it one of the sacks. Probably a rope to strangle me with. I rested my head into the seat and shut my eyes. I felt the breeze on my face as Tbag opened my door, but he didn't lunge at me. He grazed the side of my face with his fingers, and then dropped his hand down on my knee. I opened my eyes and saw that there was a first aid kit sitting on the ground next to Tbag. He twisted my legs and my body around so that my legs were dangling out of the car. He opened the first aid kit and pulled out an ice pack.

"Here, use this for your headache." He ordered.

I complied and reached for the pack. It was icy to the skin, and I winced as I placed it against the side of my head. I was silent as I watched take out some bandages and alcohol like he was a practiced worker in the medical field. I would have to ask him later how he knew how to do all of this. Tbag leaned forward on his knees and began reaching for my shirt (actually, it was a borrowed shirt from Jeannette's daughter after Tbag ripped my first one). I flinched away from his touch. He reached out for shirt again more forcefully. Experience had taught me to borrow a button up shirt so that when Tbag tried to take it off, he wouldn't have to rip it. My entire body was tense as he worked the buttons down, and he slipped the shirt past my shoulders. I noticed that his eyes lingered on my chest briefly before attending to my shoulder. He pulled the knife out of his pocket cutting the tape that was holding the towel to my wound. As he removed the towel, I noticed that bleeding had only gone down slightly. I suddenly found myself praying that I would have to go to the hospital because it would give me a chance to get away from Tbag.

"This is gonna hurt," he said with a grin.

I looked at him confused before he dumped the bottle of alcohol over my shoulder. I gritted my teeth and screamed out as the burning liquid cleaned out my wound. My fists were clenched on my legs and I tilted my head as far back as it would go trying to hold back the tears. I was shaking by the time Tbag had stopped torturing me with the alcohol. I was breathing shallow breaths as Tbag started wrapping my shoulder in the bandages. Surprisingly, it did feel better. Once Tbag was finished he pulled me shirt back on and buttoned it up. I slowly brought my eyes to look at him and he was staring right at me. I brought the ice pack down and handed it out to Tbag, and when he reached out for it his fingers lingered on my wrist. I bit my lip and slowly pulled my wrist away. Tbag smirked and reached in the bag to pull out a bottle of water and a white cloth.

Silly me, I thought he was going to give me the water to drink. Instead, he dumped half of the water onto the cloth and brought it up to my face. He started wiping the blood off of my face. It shocked me at how tender his touch was to my face, it didn't hurt at all while he was cleaning my face. I kept darting my eyes all around the car and outside and all around back to Tbag's face. He glanced up and caught me staring at him.

"See something you like, Laneykins?"

I could feel my face starting to flush and I dropped my gaze shaking my head. He chuckled and finished up cleaning off my face. Tbag stood up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. Before I could open my mouth and say anything, Tbag pushed me over in the seat and slammed the door shut. I grunted and slouched down in my seat as Tbag moved back to the driver's side and started the car. I huffed and cupped my chin in my own hand. This was going to be a very boring captivity if Tbag wouldn't really talk to me. I glanced back over and Tbag was looking at me. It actually made me a little nervous that Tbag kept taking his eyes off of the road. I swallowed a dry lump in my throat.

"Where are we going?" I asked nervously.

Tbag didn't respond. Instead, he flipped down the visor above his head. I looked up expecting to see the mirror, but something was blocking it. I titled my head to the side as I tried to read the piece of paper that was taped in front of the mirror. It was some sort of address, but I didn't recognize where he was taking me. I had a feeling that he wasn't going to tell me where he was taking me anyways. About an hour into the trip, I needed to go to the bathroom. I asked Tbag three times if we could stop somewhere, but he sternly told me that he was not making another stop until we reached a hotel to stay at for the night. My stomach dropped at the thought of staying in a hotel alone with Tbag. I was hoping since he had 5 million dollars sitting in the back seat that he could at least take us to a decent place to stay.

It was dark by the time Tbag picked the motel that he felt was worthy of staying at. Emphasis on the word "motel". It was one of those motels that always gets passed as you drive by it on the interstate, and take notice of its low prices but never even consider staying there. It had a pink roof and the doors to the rooms were blue. Tbag pulled the car into the parking lot, and quickly grabbed the bag of money out of the back seat. I assumed that I was supposed to wait in the car while Tbag got us a room key, but he opened my door and grabbed a hold of my elbow. As we approached the door I could feel Tbag's warning glare on me. I knew what it meant: I would be very, very sorry if I said or did anything that would expose us. The bell above the door chimed as we went inside. The only worker in sight was a greasy looking man wearing a worn out NASCAR hat. His button up shirt was open at the bottom and his beer gut was showing. I found myself sliding closer to Tbag.

"Evening folks," said the man, "You're out awful late?"

Tbag bellowed a laugh and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"That's what happens when you let your wife here give the directions." Tbag mocked.

I rolled my eyes as Tbag moved forward to shake the guy's hand. I wouldn't touch that guy's hand with an 11 foot pole.

"Clyde May," Tbag said introducing himself, "This is my wife Ellie."

Clyde and Ellie May. Those names sounded exactly like something Tbag would name his children. The worker glanced over in my direction and gave me a friendly smile. I nodded my head curtly. This guy was either too stupid to notice that bruising on my eye and neck, or he was just intimidated by Tbag and ignored it.

"How much do you charge for a room?" asked Tbag.

"Usually, about $80 a night, but for you folks I will give you a deal of $50 a night."

I raised my eyebrows and felt a little weak at the knees. This guy wanted to give the happily married couple a deal on a room. Or, he was too intimidated by Tbag and dropped the price of the room.

"Perfect, we will be staying for about a week."


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Hello all! First off, sorry that this chapter is on the shorter side.. I will try to post longer ones in the future. Also, I wanted to apologize if Laney has come off sort of weak in these past few chapters not trying to fight or defend herself, but she did get stabbed in the shoulder (thanks to John ;) ) and that will take a while to heal without proper medical attention. Trust me, even though she can't fight physically she still has her mouth and her wits... any way enjoy =)**

I couldn't believe he booked a room for a week! What the hell were we going to do in the middle of nowhere for a week? I stood on the other side of the door as Tbag fiddled with the key in the lock. My body felt like it was going to shut down at any second, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into one of the beds and sleep. Tbag pushed the door open and slipped inside. I followed in behind him. As he flicked on the lights, my eyes widened at the complete dump that surrounded us. The carpeting was this bright orange that didn't match the pea green walls. The cheesy lamp was sitting on a desk in the center of the room, and I was too afraid to even step foot in the bathroom. The most shocking part was that there was only one bed. One of the smallest looking beds I have ever seen. Tbag dropped all of his bags onto the floor and pushed me forward towards the bathroom. God, I just prayed that he wasn't going to make me get into the shower.

The floor tiles on the bathroom alternated colors from light blue to tan, and everything else just didn't look pleasant at all. I turned around and Tbag was smirking at me. I folded my arms over my chest and looked down at the floor. This was going to be the part where he made me very, very afraid. He cocked his head to the side at me.

"You don't want to sleep in your dirty, bloody clothes do you?"

My eyes shot up to look at him. Was he proposing that I take my clothes off? Because I would rather sleep in these clothes than be next to Tbag in my undergarments. He chuckled at me and threw of one of the sacks in my direction, and I caught in awkwardly causing my shoulder much pain. I asked him what was inside it, but he slammed the door shut leaving me alone in the bathroom. I just listened to my own breathing for a while before I looked in the sack. I pulled out a pair of grey flannel shorts and a flimsy white tank top. I bit my lip and rolled my eyes before starting to undress myself. My jeans were fairly easy to pull off and I slid the shorts up onto my hips. My shirt was a bit more challenging. For one, I had very little shoulder movement and working my shirt off in the first place took me nearly a century. I promised myself that I was going to ask Tbag for help because that was probably exactly what he wanted. I settled with bending over forward so my hair was brushing against the floor. With the tank top resting on the toilet I reached my arms forward and carefully slid them through the shirt, and then in one swift movement I flipped my body upright causing the shirt to fall over the rest of my body. I laughed to myself realizing how ridiculous I must have looked completing that task, but hey it got the job done. I took a deep breath and reached out for the door.

Tbag was sitting in the middle of the bed reading some stupid pamphlet. I timidly walked out of the bathroom not really sure of where I was supposed to go. Tbag didn't even bring his eyes up to look at me before he was letting out a whistle.

"If that doesn't bring back memories of Fox River," he stated.

I kept my eyes on the carpet, but gave a small smile. Memories of my stay at the prison came flooding back, and it was a little shocking that my first reaction to those memories was to smile.

"We aren't really just going to stay here for a week are we?" I asked nervously.

He smiled at me like I just solved some sort of puzzle.

"Of course we aren't staying here for a week, but he doesn't know that. We are going to stay here tonight, maybe tomorrow and by the time he figures out who we are we will be long gone."

"Oh." Was all I could reply.

I glanced back up to Tbag who had moved over on the bed and was patting the spot right next to him inviting me to come over. My smile faded slightly, and my body tensed up. I really didn't want to sleep next to Tbag in such a tiny bed because I didn't trust his roaming hands. There was also that nagging part in the back of my mind, however, that thought it might be kind of nice to be next to Tbag while he was being kind, but as quickly as that thought sneaked into my mind I pushed it away and shook my head at Tbag.

"You can either cozy up to me Laneykins, or you sleep on the floor in the bathroom," he said with a warning tone.

I exhaled and slowly started to inch my way closer to the bed. I sat down on the very edge of the bed and brought my knees up to my chest. I sure as hell wasn't going to go to sleep while Tbag stayed awake because God knows what he would do to me in my sleep. Tbag had some sort of television show in Spanish on and I was focusing my eyes just on that show. My hands gripped tighter around my knees, and I wished I could just relax. Tbag shifted on the bed and I gasped as his arm wrapped tightly around my waist and pushed me onto my back on the bed. I stared up at him with wide eyes as he rolled onto his side and was leaning over me. This couldn't be happening, could it?

It was completely silent as both of our chests were rising and falling at the same time. I swallowed a dry lump in my throat, but didn't dare move a muscle. Tbag was going to have to make the first move. He smirked at me and leaned his face in towards mine.

"Go to sleep." He said.

He pulled himself off of me and rolled over onto his side to turn off the light. I quickly flipped onto my side so I was facing the opposite way of Tbag. It was pitch black in the room without any lights on and the dark definitely creeped me out. I curled myself up into the fetal position and forced my eyes shut trying to make sleep come.


	33. Chapter 33

My body felt like it was being weighed down by bricks when I opened my eyes the next morning. I was just thankful that I was able to open my eyes the next morning, and Tbag hadn't killed me in my sleep. I tried to lift my head to see if Tbag was still asleep, but my whole body was straining to complete the task. I opened my mouth and said his name softly, but there was no answer. He could have just been in the bathroom, but I didn't hear any water running either. I realized that I was lying on my stomach and had my arms out in front of me. My shoulder was killing me and I lifted my eyes to check and gasped when I saw my hands cuffed together at the head of the bed. At first I panicked because I thought Tbag had done something to me in the night. I flailed around a bit trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and I realized that Tbag was nowhere in the room. He had gotten out of bed, handcuffed me to the bed, and left all without waking me up. I pulled myself up onto my knees and started tugging on the cuffs, but they were locked tight. I titled my head up towards the ceiling and let out an extremely loud groan. I just prayed that Tbag wasn't going to be gone and leave me like this all day. I stretched myself back out of my stomach and started twisting and turning every which way trying to find a comfortable position. Unfortunately, none could be found and I was stuck on my stomach.

My arms felt like jelly by the time I heard the door to the hotel room click open. I turned my head to see Tbag stroll in twirling the keys around his finger whistling some tune in his sunglasses. He glanced over in my direction and I gave him a small smile, but he went on strolling into the bathroom. I don't even think he was doing anything because he was just whistling with the water running. I was suddenly furious and started pulling and tugging at the handcuffs with everything I had. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to break these handcuffs and beat Tbag within an inch of his life. I knew though that however much I wanted to kill Tbag, I would never be able to actually go through with it because he was all up inside my head. Tbag came strolling from the bathroom and started stretching out his arms and his legs. Why did he even to stretch his arms, he was missing a hand? By this point, I was extremely frustrated and I gritted my teeth together. I pulled against the handcuffs and cleared my throat in a very loud and annoying way. Tbag finally looked over at me and smirked at me.

"Why good morning Laneykins." He said as he started to approach the bed.

I gave him an obviously fake smile. If he was going to come over here and not undue the handcuffs then I would have a few choice words to say to him. My shoulder was really killing me and I needed to put my arms down.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked trying to stall.

I buried my face in my pillow trying to prevent a scream. Why couldn't he just uncuff me first, and then we could chat about the God damn weather. I looked up to Tbag with my lip pouting in the hopes that this would convince him to uncuff me.

"Please T, take the cuffs off." I said fighting back swear words . I was really trying to be nice.

He titled his head to the side smirking at me.

"Now how can I say no to that face." He said leaning over my body.

He quickly removed the cuffs and I flopped onto my back finally enjoying the new position. I was massaging my wrists when Tbag hoisted me up into a sitting position. I shook just a little as his eyes danced across my body. Now was not the time for this, and I hoped that he wasn't going to try anything because my body was weak and I wouldn't be able to fight him off. He quickly grabbed both of my wrists. He turned them so my palms were facing upwards and he started rubbing my raw skin where the cuffs rubbed against my skin. I sat in silence and just watched Tbag's gentle movements. Once, he was done he wanted to clean the wound on my shoulder again. Luckily, I was in the tank top he bought me so I wouldn't even have to take my shirt off. I slowly slid the strap off my shoulder and Tbag started removing the bandages. It was hurting less and less every day. I grimaced when I saw the alcohol sitting on the table and braced myself for the inevitable burn.

"Where did you even go this morning, why did you handcuff me?" I asked when he was finished.

"I had some more errands to run, and I didn't want to wake you because you were sleeping so peacefully. But, of course there was no way in hell that I was going to leave you alone with the chance of escaping."

"What errands had to be run?"

"I had to get some essential things. There is this little town not far from here and it has these little shops."

I raised my eyebrows and was suddenly curious as to what kinds of things he bought. I looked behind his shoulder but I didn't see any bags. What game was he playing with me? He looked at me funny and started shaking his head back and forth.

"The bags are still in the car, but you need to put your clothes back on," he ordered.

"Why didn't you buy new clothes?" I asked a little annoyed.

He grinned wickedly at me.

" We are going out!"

I rolled my eyes as I moved to climb out of the bed. In my opinion, it would be a huge risk to go out in public when you were a wanted criminal just to go to a mall. I was going to say anything though because there is an increased chance someone might recognize me, and even if I were to get apprehended by the police I would be away from Tbag. I grabbed my clothing from yesterday and slipped into the bathroom. One look in the mirror made me want to scream out. I looked hideous! I desperately needed to take a shower (although with Tbag around I'd say those chances were pretty slim), my hair needed something done with it, and I just looked sick. My bruises and wounds did indeed look better than they did, but were still noticeable. I slipped out of my pajamas and into the clothing I had on yesterday. I ran my hands under the water in the sink to wash off my face and attempted to fix my hair. I was on trying a third style when Tbag came bursting through the door causing me to jump.

"I swear Laneykins, we aren't going before the Queen of England you look fine let's go." He ordered.

I opened my mouth to protest and ask for 5 more minutes, but he grabbed me by the elbow and started jerking me out the room. I stuck my heels into the floor trying to stop him, but it didn't do me much good as he pulled me towards the door. He threw open the door and the brightness of the day burned my eyes. Tbag didn't even let me put shoes on before he was forcing me out of our room. How did he think I was going to walk around without shoes on without drawing attention? He pushed me inside of the car and moved over to the driver's seat without a word. We sped down the road in silence and I made sure that I was pouting as much as possible. I needed to do something that was going to make me sound like a smart ass.

"How am I supposed to walk around anywhere with no shoes on genius?" I mocked.

I watched him grip the steering wheel a little tighter as he didn't appreciate my tone and my attitude. But he instantly covered it up with a smirk and glanced over in my direction.

"You won't because you will just be sitting in the car while I finish getting everything I need."

"What? That's so dumb! Why am I even going if I am just going to sit in the car?"

"Well, if you don't like it then I will turn the car around and lock you up in the bathroom." Tbag shouted.

To any outside eye it looked like it was just an ordinary couple arguing about something. I slumped back into my seat and propped my bare feet up on the dash. No, I didn't just want to sit in the bathroom all day by myself, but I really didn't want to sit in the car either. Tbag moved forward so he was hovering over the steering wheel and he was breathing in and out heavily. He looked over in my direction and grimaced off me.

"Get your feet of this dash right now!" he said like a parent scolding his child.

He pushed my feet to the floor and I slumped further down into my seat. I suddenly was thinking that sitting the bathroom alone wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. At least Tbag wouldn't be anywhere around. He was right of course, and not 5 miles down the road was a small little town with these little shops sitting on the main road. I was staring out the window trying to not act too disappointed at all of the stores I would be missing. Tbag turned the car to the right and there was a small parking lot behind the stores. Tbag pulled in away from all of the other cars and put the car in park. I still wasn't looking at him and I heard him chuckle as he rolled down my window causing me to jump. He slipped out of his seat and moved around to the other side of the car. I was forced to look up at him as he smiled at me from the other side of the window.

"I trust that you know not to leave this car." He said in more of a threatening tone. "Don't talk to any one either. I don't believe you would be a strong liar."

"Hmm. Well I fooled you for weeks pretending to be an inmate in an all-male prison." I said with a raised eyebrow, but I only received a smirk from Tbag.

"Regardless, stay here and be quiet. Who knows, if you are a good little bunny maybe I will bring you back a present." He said before walking away.

I watched him leave and was shouting every curse word I knew at him in my mind. Maybe if I was lucky the cops would apprehend him and then I could get away to find Tweener. I snorted to myself because even I knew that I wouldn't luck out that easily. And when I thought about it I really didn't want Tbag to get arrested, I was just pouting because I had to stay in the car. I watched all of the people walk by with normal lives completely unaware of everything that was going on around them. They probably had no idea that a person who has committed multiple murders was walking among them, and that his hostage was sitting in the parking lot.

I was antsy as the first hour passed, and I hoped that Tbag was nearly done with doing whatever it was he had to do. When the second hour passed, I was lying in the back seat ready to bash my face into the window due to boredom. I swore I was going to personally strangle Tbag with my bare hands as the third hour approached. What was taking so damn long? I didn't see Tbag as the shopaholic type. I had my forehead pressed up against the open window and was just staring at the same old sidewalk willing for Tbag to walk by. It was then that I heard voices, a group of voices. I turned my eyes to see a group of guys strutting through the parking lot. They looked to be in their late teens, and they sort of reminded me of Tweener. Then I remembered that I wasn't supposed to talk to anyone else, and if these boys saw me I was fairly certain that they would walk over.

They were getting closer and closer to the car and I was getting more and more nervous. Tbag was going to get so mad at me if he saw me talking to these people. Please don't look at me. Please don't look at me. Please don't look at me. Of course, right as the thoughts passed through my mind, one of the guys looked right in my direction. My eyes widened as he smirked and pointed me out to his other friends. Now all of their attention was on me, and to my horror they started making their way over to me. I thought maybe if I could roll up my window, then I wouldn't be able to talk to them, but no that plan was shot down when I realized I needed the car to be started.

"Hey there." One of the guys said in full on flirt mode.

I slowly lifted my eyes to meet theirs and gave a soft smile. The whole point of Tbag's rules was not to draw suspicious attention to myself. Well, me sitting here ignoring these guys and acting like a spaz was going to cause attention.

"What happened here?" he asked reaching out his finger to point at the bruises from my face to my neck.

"Car accident." I said quickly trying to tilt my head at an angle that they couldn't see the bruise.

"Well, you still look beautiful to me." he said in such a cheesy way it made me giggle.

This is exactly what I pictured Tweener to be like when he was younger. Walking around strutting his stuff and flirting with all of the girls. And here I was giggling and practically flirting with this stranger when I know I shouldn't be talking to them at all. I looked at all of them and one of them was giving me a curious look. Almost like he recognized me. Oh great.

"So with all of these shops around, why are just sitting in the car?"

I strained my eyes away from the guy who was staring at me to focus on the rest of the group.

"My boyfriend had to make a couple of stops, but should be back at any minute." I lied.

It was extremely awkward referring to Tbag at my boyfriend. When I thought of a 'boyfriend' figure, I thought of Tweener, holding hands, kissing in the rain, magic nights, and even though I had these strange feelings for Tbag and in my own way I did love him, I doubt he fit into many of these categories. The guys all looked to each other before chuckling.

"That is the worst excuse to make other guys leave, you know? Guys love a little competition, and finding out good looking girls aren't available only make them more desirable."

My face fell a little. That would explain the feud between Tbag and Tweener and little better. One of the guys started to lean down towards the window, and now the conversation was starting to freak me out a little. I didn't even know these people and there was no guarantee that they were any better people than Tbag was. I mean they probably were, but I still didn't know them.

"You're the missing agent." Said the guy who had just been silently staring at me in a panicked voice.

Now I was getting panicked. He couldn't possibly know who I was, right? I surely couldn't be that recognizable and famous that kids like these would know who I was. I shook my head no at the boy and explained that I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Yes, you are. They said that the escaped convicts took you as their hostage. Is one of them here with you?"

Now all of the guys were looking at me curiously, and I was at a loss for words. I guess Tbag was right and I wasn't such a good liar. I was staring at all of them with fearful eyes.

"Please just leave before he comes back. I'm not supposed to be talking to anyone or I am going to get hurt. Please just leave."

A few of the guys had smiles plastered over their faces while a few looked concerned. One or two looked downright scared to death.

"You weren't in a car accident, were you? One of them did that to your face."

I didn't give them an answer, but I didn't have to. One of the guys grabbed the door and threw it open. Don't ask me why a genius like Tbag would forget to lock the door. I started refusing them over and over again telling them to go away, and I even tried crawling in the back seat, but they weren't giving up. One of them grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me out of the car. My bare feet hit the pavement and it was hot due to the sun beating off of the concrete. They started pulling me across the parking lot and I was doing my best to stop them.

"No.. wait… please.. you can't." I tried pleading with them but they weren't listening to me.

I kept begging over and over again and I could tell some of the guys were ready to just let me go because I was being annoying.

"No she stays with us, think of all that reward money."

"But she doesn't even want to come with us."

"Maybe she is just suffering from shock of being a hostage. She's convinced herself that she is in love with them or something."

What? Ok, no that was way off. Is it? I wasn't just in shock and stressed out from everything that I am coping by becoming close to the guys, right? It certainly made sense with other kidnap victims, but I wasn't necessarily kidnapped, but it would explain a lot of my unexplained feelings. They continued pulling me through the parking lot, and I was struggling a little less because I was lost in my own thoughts. They walked turning the corner and right into an alleyway before I finally slipped my wrist out of their grasp. They all turned to look at me.

"Look guys I appreciate you trying to save me and everything, but you don't know who you are dealing with. He would track us down and kill us all."

"You are right about that last part Laneykins," growled a very dangerous voice.

My eyes widened and I flipped my head around to see the very terrifying face of Tbag holding different sacks, although he was gripping them so hard that I thought they might rip. I thought about the several options I could take: I could run, I could fall to my knees and beg him not to kill me, or I could stand with these strangers and hoped that I could get away. One of the guys grabbed me by the arm again and pulled me closer to the group. I was trembling with terror. Tbag gently set down the sacks and started rolling up his sleeves calmly.

"You boys are young and immature, and not the first ones to fall under the charm of little Laneykins, believe me. However, she is my property and you can either give her back to me and this won't have to get offensive."

His property? I didn't see his name tattooed on my lower back, just Bella. I knew that all of these guys would be too stubborn to heed Tbag's warning, and they had no idea just how dangerous he could be. But I did understand and I had to try and save these guys before they got themselves killed.

"Tbag please just stop this. They didn't know what they were doing. I…"

"Shut up bitch!" he shouted at me.

I flinched away from him and one of the guys stepped forward like a stupid hero. Oh no!

"Leave her alone. She is an innocent girl, and who knows what kind of torture that you have put her through you monster."

Tbag titled his head back and started laughing out loud. It was a maniac laugh that made every inch of my skin crawl. I tried to clench my fists at my sides to stop them from shaking.

"For wanting to save her life so badly you sure don't know much about her. Now this little game is over. Either give her to me now, or you all will die." He said very well aware that the guys weren't going to back down.

It wasn't a very long fight. Within half an hour, there were three broken necks and two guys bleeding out. I had crouched down against the wall and I couldn't stop shaking. Tbag's hands were covered in blood and his face was completely masked over with rage. All of these poor kids were dead and it was my entire fault. Their pale unmoving faces would haunt me for the rest of my life. Tbag turned his attention towards me and stormed over to where I was crouching. I started to cry and begged for him not to do anything, but he hoisted me up by my elbow.

"If you think this is bad." He said gesturing to the pile of dead bodies behind us. "Wait until you see what is in store for you."


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Uggggh! Sorry for the delay of getting this chapter posted. I have been having computer problems all this week and it is soo frustrating! Any way here is this chapter for you guys and I want you to know that I really do appreciate all those who take the time to read my stories and give me their opinions. It only helps my writing so thanks so much! Enjoy =)**

I couldn't feel my fingers or my toes by the time we reached the hotel. Everything had gone numb. T-bag had calmly and silently slid out of the driver's seat, and he was at his most dangerous when he was quiet. I didn't even try to fight him as he pulled me away from the car and towards our room. Maybe I could try and talk him down and he wouldn't hurt me as badly as he intended. He fiddled with the key to the door and I was trying to keep myself from having a panic attack. The door slid open and my eyes were met again with that ugly carpet. I stole a glance over at T-bag who was glaring daggers at me. Oh god, I couldn't do it. I couldn't go in. My feet felt like they were glued to the floor. T-bag let out an angry growl and he shoved me violently into the room, slamming the door shut. I mustered up as much strength as I could find and turned around to face him. He was just staring at me.

"T, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to—" I was cut off as I landed flat on my back on the floor with T-bag hovering over me.

"You didn't mean to what? Cause the deaths of those poor innocent teenagers?" he mocked with almost a growl.

I opened my mouth trying to say anything, but nothing came out. Tears were brimming my eyes at the thought of causing so much death. T-bag offered me his hand and I took it skeptically as he pulled me up into a sitting position. I thought maybe I was going to luck out of this situation, but T-bag soon grabbed the back of my head roughly. His fingers were tapping against my collar bone and I couldn't stop shaking. He was humming to himself as if he was thinking. He leaned in close to my ear and I felt his breath on my neck.

"I think the problem is that you are no longer afraid of me." He whispered.

I moved my eyes over to look at his face. Did he seriously think that I wasn't afraid of him? Because right now I was pretty damn terrified! T-bag released his hold on me and started walking behind me. It was dead silent except for my frantic breathing. He gripped both of my elbows and pulled my arms behind my back. I let out a sharp cry of pain as he tightened my hands behind my back, creating a severe strain on my shoulder. I knew he had those plastic handcuffs and he was binding my hands together.

"I have given you the impression that my liking towards you will stop me from causing you harm."

He pushed the hair off my shoulder and grabbed a hold of my chin. The tears were starting to well up again as T-bag started to scare me more and more. There was a flash of something out of the corner of my eye and a towel was stuffed in my mouth and around my neck like a gag. T-bag came back into my line of sight and I had to bite down on the towel to keep from crying out.

"What you have to understand is that I am not a good guy Laney and that's how I like it."

I sat there looking confused as T-bag lunged at me and ripped my shirt right down the middle. I screamed into the towel, my face turning red out of embarrassment. He pulled the torn shreds away from my body leaving me exposed only in my bra. T-bag's eyes lingered on my chest and I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. If T-bag wanted me to be afraid of him he was doing a pretty good job. I was terrified that this was going to go very badly and he was going to…well he was going to…I couldn't even get my thoughts together.

I never thought this would happen. I mean, I always knew there was a chance this could happen, but I figured he would just threaten me. Not to actually go through with it. But the look on his face now was a look I had seen before in Fox River. He nearly succeeded in having his way with me during the riot, but I was lucky and had the others to protect me. Now I was alone, and had no means of defense or protection. T-bag finally pulled his eyes away from my chest and stepped closer to where I was sitting. I was trying to plead with him through the towel to stop this, but it fell on deaf ears. He reached out for my feet and started touching my toes. I suddenly had this sinking feeling that my toes were in danger, like he was going to break them one by one, but he was almost giving me a foot massage. If I wasn't so scared I might have enjoyed it. Things started to turn when his hand started to creep up my leg. I tried to slither away from him but I couldn't use my hands and I ended up falling over onto my side. T-bag wasn't fazed, however, and continued his journey up my leg. I was crying into the towel and squirming in every direction trying to get away from his touch. His hand curved around my butt and his fingers tightened slightly. My eyes widened and I brought my foot up, connecting it with his jaw. I realized just how big of a mistake I made, and I tried backing myself away from him as far as I could. T-bag looked up at me, his face masked over in impeccable rage. Before I could even blink he lunged at me and wrestled to get his hand on the button of my jeans.

Now I was thrashing about in a frenzy trying to prevent T-bag from removing my pants. He growled at me and climbed on top of me, using his knees to hold down my body as he worked my jeans down my thighs. I tried to clench my legs together as tight as they would go to prevent T-bag from seeing anything, but I doubted I could hide myself for very long. He ripped my jeans completely away from my legs and threw them across the room. He moved back to his feet and was staring at my now uncovered body sprawled across the floor. I rolled over and curled myself into a tight ball trying to shy myself away from T-bag. There was only one person I ever wanted to be this exposed to, and he was miles and miles away. My eyes widened when T-bag started shrugging out of his jacket. He was doing it slowly, painfully slow to torment me, and I tried to scoot myself away from him even more. He growled and wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into the air. I screamed into the towel and kicked my feet frantically trying to get away. It made me slightly curious that no one else could hear us screaming and fighting.

T-bag tossed me behind him and I landed right in the middle of the bed bouncing in the air as I hit. I attempted to turn over and climb off, but T-bag was one step faster and pulled me back. I tried to lift my head to make contact with his nose, but he ducked out of the way and held me down by my throat. I let out a choked sob and bucked my hips upward trying to throw him off of me. I tried to buck him off again, but he pushed all of his weight down onto my hips so I was unable to move. I was completely trapped underneath T-bag. This was becoming all too real. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

T-bag removed his hand from my throat and started roaming it all over my body. I finally gave up my struggle accepting my fate of what was going to happen. I decided that it would be better to have my strength later than wasting it all now in a losing battle. I just hoped T-bag would be able to look at me after this, without being reminded every second of everyday what he did to me, without feeling guilty. That is if he didn't kill me. I closed my eyes and lolled my head to the side, hoping that whatever he was going to do that he would do it quickly and not drag it out any longer.

He leaned his face down close to mine. "Are you afraid of me Laneykins?" he whispered as he resumed his hand on my throat.

I mumbled into my towel, but I knew he couldn't understand me so I forcibly shook my head back and forth. Of course I was afraid! I wasn't ready for this to happen and I feared that he was going to kill me when he was finished. I would just be another one of his victims. T-bag smiled and dropped his head where he started kissing my neck. I tried craning my head away from him as far as it would go, but his hand was holding me in place. T-bag roughly pulled the gag down slightly freeing my mouth, and he crashed his lips against mine. I thrashed and kicked about underneath him as he tried to force his tongue into my mouth. He succeeded. It was the most rough, unromantic kiss I had ever experienced, and I could only scream into his mouth. T-bag's hand started roaming down my body and once they reached my stomach I started to panic. I bit down on his tongue hard and refused to let go. T-bag growled against my mouth and I only released when I could taste his blood in my mouth. He quickly sat up putting all of his weight onto my hips and he brought his hand up to his mouth. When he pulled it away I saw that his fingers were covered with blood.

T-bag glared down at me, his face reddening by the second, and I could feel my hands trembling behind me. He was just staring at me with harsh, rounded eyes making me feel even more self-conscious just lying here underneath him in nothing but my bra. In a flash, he lunged forward and shoved the gag back in my mouth. He then pressed two fingers right into the wrap on my shoulder. I felt like my jaw was going to break as I screamed into the towel as his fingers pressed harder and harder onto my wound. T-bag gritted his teeth together and twisted his fingers around. I clenched my toes, my fingers, my eyes, everything I could clench trying to block out the pain. The tears burned my vision. This torture was worse than anything imaginable. T-bag pulled back his fingers and revealed a small trace of blood on them. I dropped my eyes to see my shoulder bleeding slightly.

T-bag rested his hand right below my bra. This was it. This was the moment where I was going to be lost to T-bag. This was the moment where he was going to take everything away from me.

"If something like this ever happens again," he growled. "Just know that I am not going to stop myself."

Before I had time to register his words, he pulled me up and tossed me onto the floor. I was shaking and sobbing trying to figure out what just happened. T-bag climbed off of the bed and pulled me up by my hair as he started dragging me across the room. I tried to get myself to my feet, but my ankles only rolled out from under me causing me to fall back to the floor. I was sobbing into the towel and Tbag only lifted me up again and took me into the bathroom. He tossed me onto the floor and I landed hard on my side. I turned my head to glance at Tbag, but he had already slammed the door shut. Even though he didn't say anything I knew that I was not allowed to leave the bathroom. After what had just happened I was pretty determined to do what he said. The tears still spilled out of my eyes as I pulled myself up into a sitting position. The bandage on my shoulder was stained with my blood and the area around the wound was irritated from Tbag's prodding. I guess I should consider myself lucky that the only damage done to me was my shoulder. It could have been a lot worse.

But that was my punishment, to make me terrified of Tbag again. In a way he was right in that my fear towards him had went down slightly. I had been around him since he took me and he had never really done anything. I guessed that he would just threaten but not really hurt me too badly. And when those guys took me I wasn't afraid that he would ever hurt me just the others. I shook my head for being so foolish. I pulled myself to my feet and tried to grab the towel at the top of the shower, which was incredibly hard to do with my hands behind my back. Once I knocked it to the floor I grabbed it with my fingers and attempted to wrap it around my body to try and cover myself up.

But that was my punishment, to humiliate me. Tbag knew that I could take the physical blows to an extent and they would always heal. He knew that I would never ever forget this moment just like I would never forget what almost happened to me during the riot. A scar like that would never heal and the way he was staring at my uncovered body was an image burned into my mind. It was like he was a completely different person and that I was just another victim to him. By the look in his eyes I was no longer Laney the person he supposedly cared for, but Laney his property.

A few tears rolled down my cheeks as I laid myself down on the floor. If I was confused about what I felt for Tbag, it was ten times worse now. Every fiber in my being was saying to hate him, hurt him, kill him, but I could never make myself do it. Was it possible to hate and love the same person? It was never this hard with Tweener. I loved him and I knew he loved me and it was as simple as that. With Tbag I had conflicting emotions, he had conflicting emotions, and he tried to kill me every other day. No person should have to go through something like that. It would drive them insane. I was physically and mentally drained and it didn't take long before I fell asleep right there on the bathroom floor, hands bound, and a small towel the only thing to cover me.


	35. Chapter 35

**__****A/N: Hey guys! Look for two updates today =)**

_My eyes drifted open as I woke up the next morning. I was no longer on the bathroom floor but in a big, comfy bed. The sheets, blanket, and pillows were all white around me and I noticed that I was in white shorts and a tank top. I propped myself up onto my elbows and looked around trying to figure out where I was. I definitely wasn't in the hotel because this room was too nice. There was just one king sized bed in the middle of the room surrounded my empty picture frames. I brought my arm up on top of my hair and noticed my shoulder was no longer hurting either. I heard water running and turned my head to see the door shut to a room with the light on. I assumed it was the bathroom. I climbed off of the bed and slowly started making my way over to the door. My heart was pounding heavy in anticipation for who would be behind that door. I reached out my hand to open the door when the door flew open in front of me revealing a familiar face._

_Tbag was standing in the doorway with two hands and he was shirtless. My mouth started to dry up and I tried to not stare at Tbag's chest. He looked like he was surprised to see me out of bed, but he grinned at me anyway. I felt my face starting to blush with Tbag's eyes on me and I felt something inside of me that I had never felt before. Tbag flicked the bathroom light off and started to move over to where I was standing._

_"Good morning sweet Laneykins." he said softly._

_I smiled at him and opened my mouth to say something, but he silenced me by grabbing my face and pressing his lips onto my mine. His other hand snaked around my lower back and held me firmly against his body. I found myself smiling against his lips and wrapping my arms around his neck. He hadn't shaved in a few days and the stubble on his chin was tickling my face. He lifted me up into the air and moved backwards to lie me down back on the bed. He moved over me with his hands on either side of my head and leaned down to kiss me again. I titled my head to the side to allow him better access and ran my hands up and down his chest. I was caught a little off guard when Tbag broke the kiss and moved his hands across my shoulders. _

_I pouted my lips a little because I wanted to go back to kissing. He moved his hand over my throat and started to apply pressure. I opened my mouth to try and catch my breath, but Tbag only squeezed harder blocking off all air flow. I frantically looked around the room trying to find anything to help me and I noticed that the bed sheets and pillows had changed from white to black. It was a terrifying shade of black that made me feel like I was dying. The picture frames around the room had also changed and now the glass in them had shattered. I turned my attention back to Tbag as I felt the life leaving my body. He smiled at me and leaned down towards my face._

_"I love you." he spoke softly._

_I closed my eyes and found myself smiling. Because I loved him too and everything that was happening was ok because nothing else mattered. I let out one final gasp of air before I slipped away._

I gasped for air as I sat myself up in the middle of the bathroom floor. The towel had slipped away from my body and the cold air pricked my skin. My chest still felt tight as though Tbag really had been choking me. I lifted my hands to feel my throat and chest. Wait a minute, I lifted my hands! I brought my hands in front of my face and turned them over several times to examine them. There were deep red marks around my wrists where the cuffs had been and it hurt to move them, but otherwise they were ok. Tbag must have been in here during the night and took off the cuffs. I quickly brought my hands up to my mouth and took the towel out of my mouth. My throat was so dry it felt like I had been drinking sand.

I crawled over to the sink and turned on the water letting it run over my face and into my mouth. I gulped down the water like it was my job and it soaked the ends of my hair. My chest was heaving up and down when I finally turned the water off and I fell backwards onto my butt. I was staring up at the ceiling and I wondered if Tbag knew if I was awake. I figured it was a good sign that he hadn't come storming in here yet. Then I noticed that I could take a shower. I bit my lip unsure if I really wanted to take a shower with what just happened with Tbag. He would be furious if he tried to get in and I had the door locked so I would have to put a little trust that Tbag wouldn't try to hurt me.

It didn't take long for me to shimmy out of my underwear and take my bra off. I had stepped in the shower and had the water running in record time. I turned my head facing the floor and was letting the steamy water run down my back. My entire body was sore and I felt like I could collapse at any second. I used the hotel provided shampoo and conditioner to wash my hair and the tiny bar of soap to attempt to wash off my body. I don't think it would ever feel clean after last night. I felt like I was scrubbing my skin raw, but I could still smell him on me. I opened my mouth and let some of the water into my mouth to gargle and spit on some of Tbag's blood from where I bit his tongue. The thought of his tongue in my mouth was enough to make me gag. Although I seemed to be enjoying it in my dream though. I'm not saying it didn't feel nice in my dream and those feelings were coming from somewhere, I just never thought I would have a sexual relationship with Tbag. It was too weird.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel snugly around my body. After stepping onto the cold tile, I noticed the summer dress hanging on the back of the door. I took that as a hint that Tbag wanted me to wear this today and a chill went through me at realizing that at some point he had come in here without my knowledge. I had no idea what his plans were for the day and where he was planning on taking me, but I assumed it had to be some place nice if he wanted me to get dressed up. The thought sent nervous butterflies through my stomach and I quickly dried off and slipped the dress over my head. I will never know how Tbag new my measurements but every time he bought me clothing it always fit perfectly. I looked at myself in the mirror and the bruising was almost completely vanished and thankfully he didn't do anything to me last night that would cause noticeable damage. My only injury left was my shoulder, which he effectively made worse. I flipped my head over and shook out my hair to give it some curl before stepping out of the bathroom.

I slipped on the flats waiting outside the door and Tbag was standing outside of the room with all of our stuff already loaded in the car. I had forgotten that we wouldn't be staying at this motel any more. I was glad to get out of this place. Hopefully we would be heading somewhere where Tbag could act more normally. In the back of my mind I had a feeling my entire definition of 'normal' had changed for good. I stepped outside and noticed how nice Tbag looked dressed up in this suit. He looked me up and down, smiled, and ushered me over to the car.

The car ride was silent through the town. After all, not much could be said after last night. I tried to take one last look at all of the places we saw during our stay here. My heart dropped a little when we drove past that parking lot where everything took a turn for the worst. I wondered if those bodies had even been discovered yet and what the poor families would think. Tbag turned the car down a road I was unfamiliar with. I glanced through the window and I saw a small train station at the edge of town. I never thought Tbag would be taking us here because we wouldn't be able to ride a train as a fugitive and a hostage, but he pulled right up into the parking lot. One of the train's whistles blew in the background and Tbag smiled as he started to get out of the car. I silently opened my door to follow him but he turned around and told me to stay put and that he wouldn't take long. I slumped back in my seat but wasn't willing to argue with him.

Tbag moved back to the trunk and pulled out the bag of money and started walking towards the front door. It was starting to get hotter in the car and I was getting very nervous. Was Tbag planning on getting on the train and he was just going to leave me here? The thought made me a little angry. What was the whole point of taking me in the first place if he was just going to dump me off later? What was the fucking point of ripping all of my clothes off and nearly raping me if he was just going to dump me off? I hit the dash of the car hard with my hand and then cried out because it hurt. Sometimes I really hated the effect that Tbag had on me. One minute it was all smiles and butterflies, and the next it was tears and making me injure my hand. It was this reason I don't think I could ever have a future with Tbag...too many ups and downs (and the downs obviously tended to be dangerous!)But, there would always be that part of me that hoped that good part of Tbag could win the battle against his dark side.

I was so caught up in my own confused thoughts that I didn't see Tbag exit the station until he nearly reached the car. I had to keep the goofy grin from spreading across my face when I realized that he hadn't abandoned me. He was now moving at a faster pace and the bag of money was nowhere in sight. The only thing in his hand was a few of the biggest and brightest sunflowers I had ever seen. His face was lit up in a way that I had rarely seen and he just looked plain old happy. Those butterflies started fluttering in my stomach again at the thought of those flowers being for me and Tbag being so happy because of me.

I looked at my appearance in the mirror and my face fell a little with how my hair was turning out. I gave it a quick shake before Tbag slid back into the car. I turned my face quickly in his direction and gave him a cheesy smile. He raised his eyebrows at me and thought by my facial expression that I had done something to make him angry. I just kept on smiling until I creeped him out long enough and he started the car and drove off. I was cursing myself in my head for acting like such an idiot. A let out a frustrated huff and threw my head into the back of the seat. Tbag was tapping his thumbs against the steering wheel and humming a tune to himself. He was acting so differently that it frightened me slightly. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but was afraid that his demeanor would change. I would quickly look at him then look out the window, then glance back at him, but he never acknowledged me.

I glanced over to the back seat where the flowers were resting. If he was meaning to give those to me, then why was he waiting? I bit my lip nervously imagining that he was going to wait to give them to me when we were in public and I would get so embarrassed. My heart started to pound so hard I was sure that Tbag could hear it. What if Tbag was waiting for tonight to profess his feelings for me and I was suppossed to answer him? What if he wanted to apologize for hurting me last night. My hands were shaking in my lap at the thought of what I might say. I think I was most afraid that I would agree with Tbag about my feelings. I was nearly ready to have an anxiety attack when we drove through the next town.

My imagination had gotten the best of me and I was now onto the day dream of Tbag proposing to me (what had I been smoking?) Tbag suddenly tensed up at the wheel and I could tell he was getting nervous. This must be the place he was taking me. I strained my eyes as far as they could see through the window, but I didn't any sort of restaurant or place he could take me. He turned down a road that was just filled with houses. Now I was confused and had absolutely no idea what was going on. I just hoped that Tbag didn't do anything to extreme like bought us a house or something. We were nearing the end of the road and if Tbag didn't pick a house then we were going to have to turn around. Finally, he pulled the car over to the side of the road and was staring ahead to this one house in particular. It felt as though the wind had been knocked out of me. Tbag reached over his shoulder and grabbed a hold of the flowers. My hands were starting to tingle, but I couldn't feel anything in this moment through my nerves.

"Laneykins." he started to say as he held out the flowers to me.

I didn't know what to do so I just kept my hands folded in my lap and trying to keep myself calm. I wanted to wait to see what Tbag had to say before I flipped out and did something stupid.

"I need you to take these flowers to that house over there." he said in almost a command.

My face fell a little. Were the flowers not really for me? Maybe it was part of the game and when I took them there the surprise would be waiting for me. I wrapped my hands around the flowers causing me to brush up against Tbag's hands. I hope he didn't notice that I was shaking.

"Knock on the door, and when she answers tell her that you want to sell them to her. I will be right behind you."

My heart sunk clear to my chest. I was to take the flowers to 'her'. I didn't even know who this girl was, and she was the reason he was so dressed up and bought the flowers for. Now I really felt like an idiot. Tbag was looking at me waiting for some kind of response.

"Is that why you took me and brought me along? To help you with some other woman!" I snapped. "And after everything last night you expect me to help you!"

Tbag knitted his eyebrows together angrily at my back talk. He also looked slightly confused at my outburst.

"With the nice dress and the flowers, I thought..." I said but couldn't even finish my thought.

I was beyond embarrassed at this point. Try total humiliation. I snatched the flowers away from Tbag and stormed out of the car. I shut my eyes tightly. I was such an idiot for the way I acted, and now Tbag probably thought I was a nutcase for thinking he actually had feelings for me or was sorry for what he did. My fists were clenched together so tightly I thought I was going to draw blood. I walked right up the side walk and was paying no attention to see if Tbag was even behind me. I didn't care. The thought crossed my mind to when this 'woman' opened the door to shove the flowers down her throat. I could probably kick her ass even with my hurt shoulder, but then I would have to face the wrath of Tbag. I looked up at the house. I gritted my teeth at how cute this place looked. There was a nice little flower bed and a nice little porch swing once you went up the steps. My eyes looked all around the house and the yard, and stopped right in front of the steps. My eyes widened and I turned around to glance back at Tbag. He was a few paces behind me, but one look at my face made him practically start to run. He stopped right beside and took one look at the for sale sign in the front yard. Now that I thought about it, this place did look a little deserted.

Tbag grabbed me by the elbow and started leading me towards the house. Great, now he was going to get pissed off and take it out on the only person around. (Oh yeah, that would be me.) We moved up the steps and Tbag pulled on the door. Lucky for him it was unlocked. The door flew open and we slowly moved inside. Part of me was terrified that there were going to be dead bodies in this house, but frankly it just looked deserted. I mean there was still furniture and a few appliances around, but no people. Whoever used to live here left in a hurry. Their mail was still on the floor. Tbag lifted it up and started going through it. I leaned in over to his shoulder to see the name 'Susan'. My eyes widened, that is who we were going to visit? The woman that turned him into the police. I figured he would want to kill her not bring her flowers. Speaking of, Tbag ripped the flowers out of my hands and started moving into the other room. There was a single chair in the middle of the room and he slumped down into it pouting. I watched him from the hallway by the door, and he wasn't moving a muscle.

I suddenly found myself smiling and twirling in a circle. Something inside me was happy that Susan wasn't home to meet Tbag. Not that I was jealous or anything, but I was glad she wasn't around. I kept on smiling until I looked back over at Tbag. He was still sitting in that chair, but his head was turned to the side. The look on his face made me feel as though I would never be happy again. He was really upset by this, and not the kind of upset that he got when he missed the chance of killing someone. He must have really cared about this place for him to get so upset. And here I was dancing in the hall way like a nut instead of talking to him. I started to move further into the room, but he left the chair and started stalking towards the kitchen. I thought that maybe he just needed some time to himself.

He was clenching the flowers extremely hard, and I jumped when he started bashing them against the counter. The golden petals were flying everywhere and Tbag wasn't stopping. I hurried over to the kitchen and stood in front of him. I grabbed onto his wrist holding the flowers trying to make him stop with one hand and grabbed his other wrist with my other hand. He stopped moving and we were just staring each other down. I don't know what happened during our silent confrontation, but Tbag relaxed and dropped his forehead down towards mine. I immediately let go of his wrists and gave him a smirk. He regained his composure and smirked back then turned to leave the kitchen. I couldn't see in front of him because of his body frame, but if I had I still probably couldn't have changed what happened next. That for sale sign out in the yard came crashing down on top of Tbag's head knocking him the floor unconscious. I stared in shock as the blood was oozing from his forehead. I started to move towards him, but Bellick was blocking my path. He was grinning evilly at me.

"How's it going, Agent Collins?"


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Update number 2! Enjoy =)**

Together, Bellick and Geary pulled Tbag and drug him over to the empty chair in the middle of the room. I was frozen in spot staring straight ahead at Tbag. Why wasn't I trying to run or help Tbag? They threw Tbag into the chair and started tying his hands together behind his back. I bit my lip and looked over to the door trying to figure how much time I had to run. I figured I could outrun two fat guys like Bellick and Geary. The only problem was I was afraid of leaving Tbag alone. So, no matter how much I wanted to run I stood still and just hoped that we both would make it out of this alright. They finished tying up Tbag and both turned their attention towards me. I guess they figured catching me was going to be the bigger challenge. In a way it did make me feel special, but I really wasn't in the mood for fighting. I didn't like to fight. They were both trying to corner me to catch me off guard, but obviously if I knew what they were doing they weren't going to catch me off guard. Bellick crouched down in some sort of warrior stance and Geary was going to try and sneak up behind me. I held my breath and counted to three and when Geary gave his battle cry, I ducked down onto my knees allowing the two morons to collide into each other. I sort of crawled away from them and turned myself around to face them. I laughed as they were both holding their heads and they looked at me with rage.

Bellick grabbed Geary by his shirt collar and pushed him in my direction. I put my hands up in a defensive mode. He lunged at me grabbing me around my waist trying to lift me in the air. Ignoring the fact that I was wearing a dress, I put both of my hands onto his shoulders and brought my knee up into his chest. He immediately dropped me choking for air. I bounced back onto my feet and punched Geary right in his shoulder. He stumbled back a few feet. The problem with Bellick and Geary was that they were big guys. They were a lot bigger than I was and I was going to have to do some major damage to make them stay down for good. My new plan was to just take a defensive approach and make them do all the attacking. Once they were tired out, I would deliver the final hits. Geary regained his composure and charged after me again. I ducked out of the way from his swinging arm and kicked him in the side causing him to lose his balance. I walked over to Geary, but Bellick grabbed ahold of my arm dragging me across the room. He slammed me up against the wall pinning my arm behind my back. I thrashed about trying to get free and swung my free elbow backwards trying to connect with Bellick's nose, but I missed and he twisted my arm tighter. I bit my lip hoping he wouldn't dislocate my already injured shoulder. Bellick leaned in towards my ear.

"We have no interest in turning the two of your over to the authorities." He sneered. "All we want is the god damn money."

I was heavily breathing in and out trying to sort everything out. Why wouldn't he want to see Tbag arrested and captured after all of his humiliation? And you would think he would want to see me suffer after everything I have done to him. I practically made him and Geary lose their jobs.

"Why?" was all I could mutter, but Bellick must have understood what I meant.

"I have no desire in helping the police and that ass hole Mahone after they just tossed me out like yesterday's trash. Besides, all that money buried out in Utah is a hell of a lot more than the reward money for turning you guys in."

So when it came down to it, it was all about the money. All the fight had left me and Bellick had released his hold on my arm. I turned around to face him, and Geary was standing right behind him. My eyes flickered over to the still unconscious Tbag resting and bound in his chair. I bit my lip unsure of what to do. I didn't know what to do, I certainly didn't trust Bellick but I had a feeling that these two were not leaving here without this money, and I didn't want Tbag to get hurt any more than necessary. Why should I even care if Tbag got hurt for the money? I should be making a deal to get out of this place not worrying about Tbag's life. He's clearly proved that he doesn't care, so why should I?

"So you will get your money, and then I want you to call the police on Tbag, but let me go." I said in more of a command.

Bellick grinned at me and nodded his head at me. I nervously nodded my head allowing them to continue with their plan and I hoped that I didn't just make the biggest mistake of my life. If Tbag found out what I just did and it didn't work I would dead before night fall. Bellick went into the other room and brought out another chair that I was supposed to sit in. Bellick told me as long as I cooperated with him then I would be safe. I was sitting in the chair just watching Tbag and suddenly realized that he wasn't going to just give up the money without a fight. I wondered if he would punish me for thinking that I had a part in all of this. My eyes widened as Tbag started to stir. My leg was shaking nervously and I sat back in the chair. Bellick and Geary were circling around us until Tbag lifted his eyes to meet mine. Geary approached him and lifted his head upwards by his hair. It made me flinch.

"Sorry to wake you. Were you having pleasant dreams of 12 year olds dancing in your head?"

The thought made me feel sick. Whenever I was around Tbag he never acted like he.. well like he... liked children. It sort of creeped me out when he acted that way towards Seth or Tweener, or even me, but they still weren't children. But Tbag wasn't looking at either of them. He was staring directly at me.

"I have to say Teddy, I love the house." Bellick mocked.

I hated when they called him Teddy almost as much as Tbag did. One thing I was starting to realize was all three of these men truly hated one another. I don't think anything was ever going to change that.

"This is where ole Teddy practiced 'pervert knows best'." Bellick mocked once again.

I tried to give Tbag a look of sympathy, but his face was stone cold. He was not going to crack in front of these two. Why were they being cruel to him, why couldn't they just get what they came for and be done with it? Bellick started to walk around the house like he was showing it off to someone. He pointed to the kitchen.

"This is where the family meals were."

It was hard to picture Tbag sitting down for a family meal. I couldn't see what Bellick was doing but I heard his feet shuffling about.

"Ahh." he gasped. "This must have been the bedroom where you and miss Hollander expressed your 'love'".

It felt as though all of the color had drained from my face even though I was trying to show no reaction. I felt the sudden urge to scratch my leg. Tbag and I had been making constant eye contact since he woke up, but at that moment I had to drop my gaze and was embarrassed that I had to do so. God, I wish he didn't have this effect over me. He didn't seem phased though as he snorted at Bellick.

"Bradley, I hardly think a grown man that still lives with his mama could understand the concept of what went on in that bedroom."

That itching sensation became worse and I clenched my fists trying to make it go away. I heard Bellick's feet come storming over in my direction and he squatted down so that we were at eye level. I glanced over in his direction trying to figure out what he was doing. I look to see that Tbag was clenching his bound hands. Bellick smirked at Tbag.

"All of us guards used to get such a good laugh out of reading your 50 some letters you sent to Miss Hollander begging her to take your white trash ass back."

I had to look back over at Tbag. He was staring daggers at Bellick, but I could see the hurt behind his eyes at the painful memories. I will never know the kind of connection he had with this woman, and that realization hurt. My mouth dropped when Bellick's fingers started travelling up my arm.

"Is that what brought you back to this house Teddy? All of those great memories. Maybe you wanted to start over and play 'house' with Laney here."

My entire face and body was starting to blush. Bellick stood up and was now standing behind me playing with my hair. I knew that he was just toying with me to irritate Tbag, and by the looks of Tbag, it was working.

"Even I have to admit that you are one lucky bastard if you can get into those pants." he said darkly. "Although, I thought the tramp only had eyes for Tweener."

Anger was starting to surge through me. God this was such a stupid decision. I wanted to stand up and scream at him that Tbag brought me here against my will, and that I was no tramp. I wanted to shout to everyone in the room that there was no way in hell Tbag would ever get in my pants unless by force. But I never said a word. Why was it so hard for me to say that I didn't want to be here with Tbag right now? Surely, I would rather be spending my time with Tweener, right? Bellick soon became bored and stalked over to Tbag. My eyes widened as I saw the scissors in his hand. Bellick was staring right at Tbag's dead head all stitched together.

"Alright, here's the deal Teddy. Either you can tell me where Westmoreland's money is, or I am going to cut your mangy little paw off." he threatened.

What! He can't do that! I didn't know he was going to torture Tbag for the money, but come on Laney how else did you think they would get him to give it up. I couldn't let this go any further. I started to rise out of my chair.

"No! You have to stop this." I started to say.

Geary approached me and shoved me back into my chair so hard it nearly tipped over. I started to get up once more, but Geary moved behind me and was holding me in place by my shoulders. (Mind you causing incredible pain to the wound on my shoulder). I was looking at Tbag terrified and guilty that I brought this on him.

"Where's the money?" Bellick growled.

Tbag finally broke eye contact with me and slowly turned his head to face Bellick. Bellick was gripping the scissors so hard that they were shaking.

"I spent a whole bunch of it last night on your mama."

My eyes couldn't go any wider and my breathing had slowed. The look on Bellick's face had me horrified.

"Wait." I pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Wrong answer." Bellick lifted the scissors to Tbag's stitches.

"No! Wait please!"

I was ignored as Bellick took three of Tbag's stitches underneath the scissors and forcibly ripped them out. I jumped in my seat and screamed out as Tbag screamed so loud I was for sure the whole neighborhood would hear.

What have I done?


	37. Chapter 37

My entire body was trembling. I had been in that chair for over an hour only able to watch Bellick and Geary torture Tbag about the money. I was well past the point of crying as the tears were now stained on my cheeks and I wanted nothing more than to be able to help Tbag in any way. He was tough as he took their hits, but there was only so much a person could take. Thankfully, Bellick didn't rip out all of Tbag's stitches. But they had to resort to other methods like beating him senseless. He had stopped looking at me a long time ago. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he blamed me for this, and I would be in huge trouble if he lost the money. A part of me wished that he would just tell them where it was so all of this could be over. I had thought about telling them myself once or twice because I knew he put it in that train station somewhere, but I held my tongue in fear of Tbag's reaction.

For the moment, they had stopped beating him and were trying a new kind of torment. Geary had gone out to buy a radio and they kept repeating the same song over and over again. It was driving me nuts, but I think they wanted to use it to drown out Tbag's screams. Tbag was shaking in his chair and I wanted nothing more than to go over there and comfort him (How do you comfort Tbag?), but I was afraid to get out of my chair. Still, I had to try something. I looked over at Bellick who was staring out the window.

"Can I go to the bathroom please?" I said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

Bellick turned around and gave me a look like he couldn't believe that I had just asked his permission to use the bathroom. Tbag was giving me the same look, but his was angrier.

"Yes Laney, you can use the bathroom." he laughed.

I quickly got up out of my chair and hurried to the other room. The bathroom was on the other side of the kitchen and I had to slip by Geary to get to it. Once I was inside, I quickly shut the door and locked it. For good measure I lifted up the toilet seat and slammed it loudly so the others would be able to hear it. Truthfully, I really didn't have to use the bathroom, but I was trying to find something, no anything, that could help us. I wasn't having much luck because no one has lived here for a few months. Everything was gone. I ran my hands through my hair wishing there was something I could do to help Tbag. I flinched when that dreadful music started playing again and I heard Tbag let out a grunt. I reached over and flushed the stupid toilet and threw open the door.

I thought I was going to be sick when I saw Bellick taking a meat hammer and bashing Tbag's hand with it. The look on his face was one of pure agony and it made me sick. The longer the torture went on the harder Bellick would hit him. I didn't even think before I started charging Bellick. He raised his arm to hit Tbag again, and I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around Bellick's arm trying to stop him. It worked. Sort of. I did stop Bellick from hitting Tbag, but now he turned towards me and I was going to have to suffer his wrath. He flung his arm forward and I fell onto the ground face first. I was lying at Tbag's feet and I slowly lifted my eyes to look up at him. He looked terrible. He had cuts all over his face that were bleeding and a few bruises. His hand looked far worse. It didn't even really look like a hand. The flesh wasn't a healthy pink, but darkish red and some parts even looked black. I opened my mouth to say something to him, but Bellick grabbed me by the hair and pulled me to my knees. That meat hammer was swinging in front of my face.

"I think we may have been going about this the wrong way Geary." he called out.

Geary looked confused but interested into what Bellick was going to say.

"We can hurt this pervert all we want, but he ain't never going to give up that money. It might be a different story if instead the harm was going to his precious Laney."

Now I really felt sick to my stomach. I looked up at Tbag now begging him to just tell them where that key was. Was it really worth all that money if I was going to get hurt, or worse? I was afraid to find out just how far Bellick was willing to go to get that money. I was having a difficult time getting a read on Tbag's expression on whether he was actually concerned for my safety or not. It apparently wasn't the reaction Bellick was hoping for so he backhanded me across the face. I would have fallen straight to the floor, but his hold on my hair was keeping me up. Tbag was trying to keep his face calm but I could see his teeth starting to grind. I knew what he was thinking. Nobody could lay a hand on me except for him. He wasn't really concerned about my well-being, just his power trip. Bellick back handed me yet again and this time he released my hair letting me crash to the floor at Tbag's feet once again. And that's when I saw it.

The key. The key to the stupid fucking money.

It was hidden in his black sock and it was nearly invisible due to the black top of it. But I saw it, and Tbag knew that I saw it. He tried to shift his feet inconspicuously moving the key further into his sock. A hand wrapped itself around my ankle and started pulling me across the floor. I reached up my hands in the hopes that Tbag would try to help me, but I mean what could he do? His hands were bound to the chair. Bellick pulled me across the room and it must have been a sight due to the fact that I was still wearing my dress. He let go of my ankle and grabbed me around the waist pulling me to my feet. Tbag was just watching me intently, but looked like he wasn't going to make any move to try and help me. I was just staring at him wide eyed wishing that I would be more important to him than the stupid money. But that would be giving away that he actually cared about someone other than himself. Bellick wrapped his big meaty hand around my throat and I was finding it hard to breathe.

"Come on Tbag, I have watched the effort you have put out for this girl since Fox River. I know that you care for her on some level, and don't want to see her hurt. Tell me where the money is."

Tbag's eyes kept flicking back between Bellick and me. I could see the struggle in his eyes and he was really contemplating on what to do. Bellick was squeezing my throat tighter and I opened my mouth trying to get my breath. A choked sound came out of my mouth. Even though I couldn't speak, I found myself shaking my head at Tbag. Even though I was terrified of what Bellick could do to me I didn't want Tbag to give up the money. I have no idea what changed my mind, and even though it would cost me my freedom I couldn't stand to see them win. We have been through so much together that we could get through these two bozos.

I kept shaking my head at Tbag, and he understood me. Fuzzy blackness started clouding my vision and my knees started wobbling beneath me. Bellick must have sensed what was going on and he released his hold on my throat. I collapsed onto the ground and started choking trying to catch my breath. I put my hand up to my chest speedily moving up and down. I looked up to Tbag and I gave him a brief smile at him not giving up the money and me not getting hurt. But Bellick wasn't about to give up yet. His foot came crashing down on my lower back sending me to the ground. I rolled over onto my side trying to shield myself, but Bellick continued to kick me in the stomach and in my ribs. I couldn't help but cry out and the tears started pouring from my eyes. Bellick kept shouting over and over again at Tbag to give up the money.

Bellick lowered himself onto his knees and flipped me over onto my back so he could proceed hitting me across the face back and forth. My neck has never felt so sore after being whipped in every direction. I had been so focused on Tbag that I hadn't even noticed that Geary had disappeared into the kitchen. I attempted and willed to lift my arms into the air wanting to defend myself, but they felt like they were weighed down by bricks. Through my teary eyed vision I glanced over to Tbag to try and let him know that I was alright. His look was absolutely horrifying. He was pulling against the tape binding his hands so hard his arms were bright red. A slap from Bellick made me turn my attention back to him, and I could feel the warm liquid spill from my lip. He put both hands on my shoulders and started pressing all of his weight down into me. My shoulder was searing and I started screaming out in pain. I swore that if I ever saw Abruzzi again I was going to kick his ass for doing this to my shoulder. I screamed out again as it felt like my shoulders were going to crack at any moment. I bucked my body upwards and thrashed my legs about trying anything to get Bellick off of me. That's when Geary returned. I turned my eyes over in his direction and he was holding some kind of metal bar in his hands, but he was being very cautious about not holding the tip of it. I trained my eyes a little closer and saw the fading red on the top of it. Geary started walking towards me.

"Maybe this will loosen their tongues a little."

Bellick smiled an evil smile and I screamed out trying to get away from them. They couldn't do this, it was just pure evil. They were going to brand me! Bellick got a hold of me and was pinning me down with his knee and sliding my dress up my thigh. I was pretty much sobbing at this point and begging him not to do this. His attention wasn't on me, however, he was more concerned with Tbag.

"Come on Teddy give it up, or I swear I will burn her in places you can't even imagine."

My eyes widened and I tried to conceal any part of my body that they could burn. He already had my dress worked up so my upper thigh was showing and that is where the first mark was going to go. I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth waiting for the inevitable as Geary started lowering the bar towards my flesh. I could smell it, and could feel the heat radiating off of it. I was going to experience a pain like never before. I heard Tbag scream out loudly and I looked over at him shocked. He had ripped the tape clean off the chair and was charging Bellick and Geary. I shifted my weight so when Tbag tackled the both of them I wouldn't take a blow. The metal bar went flying across the room and Bellick and Geary crashed to the floor.

I scooted back on my butt trembling as I watched the three guys all wrestling on the ground. I pulled my dress down as far as it would go, and even though nothing happened I felt so violated. Again. My eyes darted back and forth because one minute Tbag looked like he was going to come out on top, but then they would take him down. I plucked up the courage to get onto my feet and was going to try and assist Tbag any way I could. But as I neared them Geary tackled Tbag to the ground and I watched as the key flew from his sock and slid across the floor. Time just seemed to stop for a moment as everyone was staring at that key. Luckily I was already on my feet and I bolted for that key. Bellick was right on my heels and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to fight him for it if I picked it up. So, instead, I pretended to pick it up off the ground and I covered the real key up with my foot. I turned around and held my fist out in the air away from Bellick. He completely stopped and was staring at what he thought was the key in my hand. Everyone had their eyes on me. I was trying to figure out a way to let Tbag know that the key was really under my foot.

"Give me the key Laney." Bellick ordered.

I glared at him. Did he really think after everything that he has put me through that I was just going to hand over the key? Hand over the only thing that was still keeping us alive? I don't think so. I clenched my fists tighter causing my nails to dig into my skin. Bellick's eyebrows knitted together and I could tell that he was furious. Good thing he didn't know that I couldn't move from this spot without giving away the location of the key.

"Aren't you tired of running? Don't you just want to get away from this mess? Hand over the key and I will help you."

For a moment, I considered this. I tried to picture what my life would be like if all of this craziness were out of it. If I didn't have to worry about being arrested by the police every day or worrying about the others getting arrested. I wouldn't have to worry about Tbag or even Abruzzi trying to kill me if I said or did the wrong thing. At times it did seem appealing, but Bellick wasn't thinking about one thing. Without all of this, I would have never met the people like Michael, Sucre, and Lincoln. Even though they can drive me crazy, Tbag and Abruzzi are a part of my life now. I couldn't imagine ever being truly happy again if Tweener wasn't somewhere in the picture and without everything that had happened I would never have found out things about myself that I know now. So I was not going to give up the key to Bellick because I wanted to stay right where I was at. I glanced over to Tbag who was still sitting on the floor next to Geary and I gave him a small smile then turned my attention back to Bellick.

"This mess is my life and if I have to keep on running to save it then I guess I am just going to have to run a little farther." I opened my hand to reveal that I was not holding the key.

Bellick's eyes went wide with rage and he started to charge me. I slightly lifted my foot to reveal the key and I swiped it with my foot so it slid back across the room heading straight for Tbag. I couldn't see what happened next because Bellick had slammed into me and tackled me to the ground. I grunted out in pain and Bellick was yelling at Geary to hurry up and grabbed the key. I fought and struggled against Bellick and was able to crane my neck to see Tbag snatch the key and start to move away. Apparently, Bellick thought I was no longer worth it and abandoned me to fight Tbag. I strained myself into a sitting position and looked on as Tbag was fighting to keep the key out of their reach. Then I looked on as he did something completely unexpected. (Actually the more I think about it, it is pretty expected coming from Tbag.)

He put the key inside of his mouth and swallowed it whole.


	38. Chapter 38

I opened my mouth in shock and Bellick looked so mad that he was starting to shake. I thought at one point he was going to roar. I figured he would start beating Tbag senseless, but he released him and started making his way towards me. I attempted to back away but he grabbed ahold of my arm and hoisted me up to my feet. I didn't even have time to call out to Tbag before he was dragging me away towards the bathroom. I resisted but he threw me inside and then slammed the door shut. I hurried over to the door and pressed my ear up to it trying to find out what was going on.

Bellick was furious and I could hear him shouting at Geary and I just hoped that he wasn't going to seriously hurt Tbag. I kept listening and for a while everything became silent. I heard the front door open and then close. I quickly backed away from the door when I heard footsteps getting closer. Bellick opened the door and pushed Tbag inside before slamming the door shut once again. Tbag and I were just silently staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

I tried to give him a reassuring smile but it was a weak one. He sure didn't look happy that he had to eat the key, but at least it was better than them getting it. Very slowly, I started moving my way towards him. He didn't move an inch and kept his eyes glued on mine. Once I reached him I started to extend my hand out to where he was standing. His body flinched slightly as I touched his cheek gently with my fingers. I tried to wipe some of the blood off of his face.

"Are you doing ok?"

He didn't say anything for a long time. But I never moved my hand from his face and he never pushed me away. I took another step closer to him trying to test the boundaries.

"How are you doing?" he finally said.

I gave him a small smile at hearing his voice but he turned his head to the side forcing me to drop my hand. Why did he ask if he really didn't want to know? It was like he was angry at me for something but I didn't do anything, and in fact I helped him make sure that Bellick and Geary didn't get their hands on that key. If anything he could at least act a little grateful. Now I was frustrated and I turned my back on him not wanting to answer his question. I knew what he was thinking. This was my entire fault and he was going to punish me for it.

"I know what you are thinking." I spat. "This. Is. Not. My. Fault."

He smirked at me and walked over to the sink to check out his injuries. I just glared at him the whole way. I folded my arms over my chest and turned the opposite direction so I wouldn't have to look at him. It was childish, I know but at the moment I was too angry and hurt to care.

"_So you will get your money, and then I want you to call the police on Tbag, but let me go_." Tbag said in a girlish voice mocking me.

My eyes widened and I turned back to face him. I had no idea that he could hear me when I had said that. Guilt started to wash over me and no wonder Tbag was angry. He thought I was abandoning him.

"One thing I don't understand sweet Laneykins, is how you always preach about being a federal agent, but you either never fight or you lose a fight. Didn't you have proper training?"

How dare he! I was fuming. Who was he to presume he knew anything about my training, and why that would have anything to do with my ability to fight. He was turned around so he was facing me and he was grinning at me clearly aware that he was pushing my buttons.

"I do not preach about being in the FBI. In case you haven't noticed I sort of gave up that life when I decided to follow a bunch of escape convicts." I spat.

He waved his hand in the air like that didn't matter.

"Your fighting skills still suck for an agent."

I growled at him.

"My fighting skills are fine. It is sort of hard to fight when you have a stab wound in your shoulder. Surely, you can relate seeing as how Abruzzi cut off your hand."

I knew that was too far the moment it left my mouth, but I couldn't take it back now. His eyes masked over with rage and he stormed over to where I was standing. I defensively started to back up. He pushed me up against the wall and held his hand up to my throat.

"I may be at more of a disadvantage now, but I assure you that I can still fight with the best of them. Even when your shoulder wasn't injured, I could still kick your ass."

"I don't like to fight." I began to explain. "I don't like to hurt people unless it's absolutely necessary. If not I would have come after you a long time ago."

He snorted like he doubted I could take him in a fight, and a part of me really wanted to take him down and prove him wrong, but I stayed where I was.

"A federal agent tracking down escaped convicts who doesn't like to fight." Tbag mocked.

I pushed him away from me.

"It wasn't my choice to be a federal agent!" I admitted.

Now I had his full attention and he released his hold on my throat. He backed up a few paces and folded his arms across his chest waiting for me to explain. Well sorry to disappoint, but I just said what I said because he was pushing me. Of course it was my choice to become a federal agent, and that is why I became one. I dropped my eyes to the floor just wishing that we could drop this conversation and talk about something, no anything else. I heard his feet shuffling across the floor and I knew that he was approaching me. I kept my eyes locked on the floor and Tbag reached out his good hand guiding my chin upwards to look at his face.

"Can I ask you something?"

I wanted to tell him to go to Hell, but I just kept my mouth shut. Surely whatever he wanted to ask me couldn't be any worse than what we were already discussing. I just kept staring at waiting for him to ask his question, but it was like he was trying to find the strength to ask it. It was like he was trying to understand a concept he couldn't quite grasp the way he had his eyebrows knitted together and the frown on his face.

"Earlier, when we were sitting in the car." he began. "You mentioned that _with your new dress and the flowers you thought_, what did you mean by that?"

My eyes widened just slightly. Apparently, the conversation could get worse than it had already been. I was trying to avoid eye contact and attempting to come up with any sort of lie.

"I... I just thought..." I started but couldn't think of anything to say. We both opened our mouths to say something, but at the same time the bathroom door burst open.

Bellick and Geary came storming into the small bathroom pushing me and Tbag closer together. I caught his scent and even though it was mixed with blood I couldn't help but smile at it. Geary had this bag in his hand and it looked like he bought the entire store, there was so much stuff in there. Bellick was grinning at me almost like he had caused me some sort of misery and he was thoroughly enjoying it. It made me uncomfortable.

"There is only one way we are going to get that key now," he said darkly. "Laney take off his pants."

Excuse me? He wanted me to take his pants off. I turned around to glare at him, which only made him laugh. I turned back around to face Tbag to see him grinning at me as well. Of course, he was enjoying himself watching me struggle. I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms across my chest.

"Why do I have to do it? If you want them off so badly, then you do it."

Bellick smirked at me as if trying to find the humor in my joke. He took a step closer in a threatening manner and I held my ground clenching my fists at my sides. I was not, I repeat was not, going to take off Tbag's pants.

"I am not going anywhere near that area, so you have to do it." he said again.

"But why would I want to do anything to help you? I gave the key to him in the first place."

Bellick just grinned at me like he wasn't fazed. I glanced back over at Tbag who had furrowed his brow at Bellick as if he was trying to make a point that I would always choose him over Bellick. Bellick moved forward and pushed me out of the way. He grabbed a hold of Tbag's arms and taped them behind his back and set a bowl into the toilet at the other end of the room. He ordered Geary to strip him of his pants and do it quickly because he was losing patience. Geary looked hesitant but strolled over to Tbag and began undoing his trousers. I had to turn my head in the other direction and forced my eyes shut.

I could feel my face starting to heat up in embarrassment and I hoped that I wouldn't see any 'parts'. I only opened my eyes when I heard something sitting down on the toilet and indeed they had Tbag strapped down to the toilet. I was trying to keep my eyes on his face. Bellick was going through the different sacks trying to find something that would make Tbag take care of his business. They settled on a can of chew. The stuff looked disgusting as Bellick gathered a lump onto his fingers and shoved it into Tbag's mouth. My throat dried out at the thought of how bad that must have tasted.

Peices of the chew were dripping out of Tbag's mouth and I chewed on the inside of my lip trying to block the disgusting feeling out of my mouth. Bellick laughed at how pathetic Tbag looked and stormed out of the bathroom with Geary right on his heels. They shut the door effectively leaving me alone with Tbag once again. I lifted my eyes to look at him and he was glaring back at me. I moved closer to him and dropped to my knees right in front of him.

It probably wasn't the smartest idea considering he was wearing any pants. I lifted up my hands and tried to remove some of the chew off of his face and simultaneously some of the blood. He was glaring at me and when I tried to say something to diffuse the tension he spat most of the chew into my face. I gasped and brought my hands up to cover my face. He turned his face in the other direction and was refusing to even acknowledge me.

I stood back up and tried to wipe the muck off of my face as much as I could. I stared at Tbag trying to think of something to say but I just ended up storming out of the bathroom leaving Tbag alone. Bellick and Geary both lifted their heads to look at me as I slammed the door behind me but I just ignored them. I stormed into the kitchen and stood over the sink. My hands were shaking at my sides as the anger surged through me. I did care about Tbag, I really did, but right now I didn't want to be anywhere near that man. He had absolutely no right to be treating me this way after everything that I did for him. I tried to wipe everything off of my face, but the chew just ended up smearing around my cheek. I looked over at Bellick and Geary who were both grinning at me.

"Trouble in love city?" Bellick mocked.

I glared at him and turned my back so I wouldn't have to face him and folded my arms across my chest.

"We aren't in love city." I spat. "But thanks to you he is angry with me and showed it by spitting in my face."

I think Geary laughed out loud. I clenched my fingers into my arms to keep from screaming at him.

"Why are you even with him? I figured you would be running around the country with Tweener?"

"What do think, that I broke up with Tweener because I'm head over heels for Tbag?"

I smiled at their silence.

"Most of us were in Utah looking for the money, and I found out that Tbag was going to take off with all of the money for himself."

Like that should surprise anyone.

"At first I think he wanted to just kill me and be done with it, but something was holding him back. So, he took me."

"Why wouldn't he just kill you?" Bellick asked.

"Our relationship is...complicated."

I didn't even want to turn around and see the looks on their faces. That probably sounded so stupid because we weren't together, but I couldn't think of any other way to describe it. I needed the attention off of me.

"Can I ask you a question, when did you two become bounty hunters?"

"Well, thanks to you lot, I got sacked after serving all of my time at Fox River. They blamed me for the escape."

"I'm sure it had nothing to do with you making deals with the inmates for money." I snorted.

"Talk talk talk Laney. You turned your back on the Feds. I'd say that is worse than getting money from a bunch of cons."

I had to shut my eyes after that one. It was hard to remember sometimes in the midst of everything going on that I was supposed to stop them from escaping and that I would probably face jail time if I got caught. I couldn't even remember the last time I had even thought about my father. I wiped a finger across my eye when a pained grunt came out of the bathroom. My head shot up in the direction towards Tbag and Bellick charged towards the door.

Geary and I followed behind and peered into the door where Tbag was doubled over. His face was bright red and his entire body was trembling. He looked like he was in severe pain and grunted once more and the key pushed out of his system. I had to turn away from the scene and try to make my mind go someplace else. He was panting heavy breaths and Bellick and Geary moved further into the bathroom, but I stayed put. Bellick threw Tbag backwards so he was sitting upright and started to untie his hands. Geary reached down and grabbed the bowl underneath before rushing out of the bathroom.

I stood frozen to the exact same spot. When Tbag sat back up we made quick eye contact, but I had to avert my gaze. Bellick pulled Tbag up from the seat and shouted at him to pull him pants back up in the presence of a lady. I could feel my cheeks starting to burn. Geary had the water running and was running it through the bowl while Bellick was dragging Tbag out of the bathroom. I was just standing there like an idiot terrified of what was going to happen. Now that they had their hands on the key, what was going to happen to us?

There was this heater up against the wall in the living room where Bellick took Tbag to and handcuffed him to one of the bars on the inside. I was still standing in the same spot just staring at him trying to think of anything I could do. I wished that Bellick could just take the key and leave us alone, but I knew that would never happen. I heard the water stop running and Geary came into view with a smug grin on his face holding the key in his hands. A change came over Bellick's face and it was a menacing look. He marched over to me with that same look and grabbed me by the elbow. I tried pulling against him, but his big meaty arm wouldn't let go.

"Come on Geary let's get out of here before we get busted."

Geary snorted like he knew some inside joke and I looked over to Tbag confused. He was too busy glaring daggers at Bellick to notice me. Bellick was grinning back at Tbag and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and I didn't have to see it to know that he was dialing 911.

"Wait Bellick no please don't do this!" I said fighting to get out of his grip.

"Now, now Laney this was a part of our deal. When we got the key we would call the cops on this scum. I never break my word."

Geary came to stand by me and wrapped his hand around my mouth when a voice came on the other line of the phone.

"Yes I would like to report some suspicious activity can you trace this call and come check it out please." he said pathetically and set the phone on the ground leaving the line open.

I bit onto one of Geary's fingers making him release me and I made a move towards Tbag. I nearly reached him when Bellick pulled out his hidden gun and pointed it right between my eyes. I stopped and my breath hitched in my throat. I did have to wonder why he waited until now to use his gun when he could have used it to get the key in the first place. I had my hands up in the air and started to back away from Tbag. Bellick smirked winningly and grabbed my elbow and started dragging me out of the house with the gun digging into my back.

Tbag was shouting out at Bellick and pulling on those plastic cuffs with all of his might (now he knew how it felt to be cuffed with those things and be stuck). It was also his unlucky day because they handcuffed his dead hand and couldn't move it around to help. I turned my head over my shoulder to look at him and mouthed _I'm sorry_ before Bellick pulled me out the door. The police sirens could be heard in the distance and for some reason I wasn't concerned with my own safety. I feared that I was never going to see Tbag again.


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: Guess who got her computer fixed?! Yep that's right...a genius completely fixed my computer and was even able to recover all of my files! So, of course I had to update a chapter for all you guys being so patient. It has been a while, but I hope you enjoy =)**

Geary drove the car back down the road while Bellick sat in the back seat with the gun still pointed at me. I guess they didn't trust me or something. It had crossed my mind once or twice that I could probably out maneuver Bellick and get the gun from him, but then what would be the point?

I had nowhere to go: Tbag was probably apprehended by Mahone and killed (the thought made my stomach flip), and I had no idea where Michael and the others were. My only hope for now was to just play along with these two morons and possibly get the money out of it.

I had my arms folded across my chest and was staring out of the window. I heard Bellick's heavy breathing and I was slightly fearful and also quite amused at the thought that he could send himself into cardio arrest after all of the fighting.

"So what exactly do you plan on doing with me?" I asked sharply. "You could have just let me get apprehended by the police."

"I have special plans for you. We are taking you directly to your father and Agent Mahone himself."

My stomach dropped. These two really did want to torture me. I didn't want to face my father after everything I had put him through, and Mahone would probably kill me if he saw me. I was a disgrace to the FBI and they never wanted to see my face again. Well, they only wanted to see my face long enough to put me behind bars.

Geary turned off of the main road and we were pulling back into that same old town that Tbag and I had left just a few hours earlier. I pretended not to know where we were going, but we all knew that they needed to go to the train station. Maybe I would luck out and they wouldn't be able to find the locker or use the key to get the money.

Geary quickly parked the car and opened the door on my side. I sat in the same position glaring up at him, and only moved when Bellick jammed his gun into my side. The three of us walked together into the train station and it was buzzing with people. Hopefully nobody recognized who I was, or maybe I was hoping to get recognized. Bellick and Geary easily found the lockers and matched the number to the key.

Bellick handed Geary his gun while he slipped the key into the lock. I guess a small part of me was hoping that Tbag had stumped everyone once again and the money wasn't in there. My face fell when I saw that same old back pack. Bellick unzipped the top part of the bag and pulled out a few free bills. He turned and grinned to Geary giving me a smug smirk along with it. They quickly grabbed onto the bag and started exiting the train station.

We exited and started walking back towards the car when Geary retrieved the gun. I first thought he was going to return it to Bellick, and I had to admit that my heart started racing just a little at seeing the gun. If they changed their minds and wanted to shoot I was pretty defenseless. Geary did have a determined look on his face as he held onto the gun tighter, but I was not the intended target. Bellick collapsed onto the ground with blood seeping out of his head as Geary beat him over the head with the gun.

My whole body went tense as Geary moved for the bag of money like he wasn't even fazed by what had happened. Bellick was completely motionless and Geary threw the bag around his shoulder. He turned to look at me and gestured for me to get in the car. I followed and stepped around Bellick to get into the front seat. He did deserve what he got but I never thought Geary would actually do something like that.

The car ride was a silent one. There wasn't much that needed to be said after everything that had happened. The sun was starting to go down and I had no idea if Geary was planning to drive all the way back to Chicago. I needed to figure something out before that happened.

"Was that your plan all along?" I asked breaking the silence without taking a glance over to Geary.

"Don't try and act like you feel bad, Laney. We all hated Bellick. The way I see it that was payback for getting me fired."

I smirked to myself at the memory of the day Geary was 'released' from Fox River. He actually believed that it was Bellick who snitched on him. I figured telling the truth for once couldn't make matters any worse than they already were.

"Bellick didn't get you fired." I admitted.

I could feel the car start to speed up slightly. Geary had immediately tensed up and I hoped that he wouldn't try to run us off the road out of rage for what we did.

"You were selling off Michael's cell and that cell was essential to their escape."

I still had to refer to it as their escape so I wouldn't have to admit my involvement out loud.

"It really pissed the guys off when you took their money and that watch but wasn't willing to give them the cell."

I stole a glance over in Geary's direction and he was glaring daggers at me. I was wondering how he was driving so well with his eyes off of the road for so long.

"Michael's burn on his shoulder was an accident, but the truth couldn't be revealed without revealing the escape so they planted the evidence in your locker to make it look like inmate brutality. The stolen watch only helped sealed your fate."

"You know if you were going to try and convince me that you shouldn't be arrested you started off terribly," he said almost like he was joking. "Damn Laney, I thought you were one of the good guys."

"I was….I still am a good person."

"Then why does it sound so pathetic as you try to convince yourself?" Geary asked with a smirk.

My silence was the perfect answer. Surely people didn't think I was some horrible human being that didn't deserve to live. That they thought I was someone as evil as Tbag. Was there no one that would even try to attempt to understand why I didn't try harder to stop them from escaping?

"I'm sorry you got fired." I said quietly.

"Ehhh, don't be.. I truly hated that joint. I couldn't stand to be around those bastards day after day. Stealing their most precious belongings made my days more entertaining."

Alright, I felt slightly less sorry after that confession, but at least he wasn't going to hold a grudge against me. We fell back into silence as it turned completely dark. My body was hit with the fatigue of the events from the day and it was getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open.

"It's been a long day, why don't we find some place to stay for the night." Geary suggested.

My eyes shot open and my head started pounding. Did Geary just imply that he wanted us to get a hotel room? Together?! I couldn't open my mouth to say anything, hell I couldn't even look at him right now. He wasn't waiting for my permission though as he turned off the main road in search for a hotel. The money in the bag gave him a new list of expectations and he wasn't going to just settle for any hotel.

My eyes shut once more before Geary pulled the car to a stop. I opened my eyes to look at one of the nicest hotels I had ever seen. I didn't even know how he found it in the first place, but here it was. It was like it had appeared out of thin air. An attendant was waiting by the front door staring at our car. It was then that I looked at my appearance. The clean and brand new dress I had once worn was stained with dried blood and dirt not to mention the cuts and bruises that extended my skin.

"I think that I should stay in the car while you take care of business."

Geary turned his attention to me and nodded his head like it was a good idea. He stepped out of the car, but was smart enough to take the bag of money with him. I waited patiently struggling to stay awake while Geary got a hotel room. Part of my lifeless mind wondered what the workers might think when someone quite a bit younger than Geary strolled in with him, and in the condition I was in.

The other part thought what I would try to do to find the others, or if I would even try. It would be the first time in a long time that I would be on my own, and the thoughts about being alone made me cringe.

I had fallen completely asleep by the time Geary had returned to the car. I didn't remember if he even said anything to me, but my mind had to tell my body to take one step after another to reach the room and my movements felt zombielike. Everything that had happened before setting foot into that hotel room was a jumbled blur in my mind and for a moment I forgot all about the money and my fate.


	40. Chapter 40

At least I got to take a decent shower. The hot water felt amazing as it hit my body and felt like it was washing everything away from my body. I put my hands up against the smooth wall and let the water run through my hair and down my back letting everything take its toll on me. A lot was running through my mind. What was Geary going to do with me? Was I just supposed to stay with him, or was he going to let me go? I knew that if he gave me the option I would choose to leave him, but I didn't want to stay alone. How would I start going about finding the others?

I couldn't help my thoughts drifting over to Tbag. I really wanted to know if he got away or if the police nabbed him. I guess I was hoping for a little of both. My two conflicting sides regarding Tbag were getting stronger and louder the more time I spent around him. It was the old classic of good v. evil, but I wasn't too sure which side was going to win.

It was frightening.

I turned off the water and wrapped the fuzzy towel tightly around my body before stepping out. I smiled when I saw the white, cotton pajamas that the hotel provided and I quickly slipped on the pants and the top. They were the whitest looking clothing I have ever seen and it wouldn't surprise me if something happened and I stained them with blood. I felt like I was becoming a professional at bleeding. I slowly pulled back the bandages to take a peek at the wound on my shoulder, and was disappointed to see that it wasn't healing as quickly as I would have liked it to.

Thanks Abruzzi.

Maybe if Geary released me I could find a doctor to help me out. I put the bandage back and slowly stepped out of the bathroom. I gasped when I saw the horrifying sight of Geary wearing only a bathrobe. What the hell was he doing? He turned his head in my direction and signaled for me to come over there. I did as I was told and he offered me a glass of wine, but I declined even though I would love to drink my problems away. I simply had too many problems.

I moved across the room to look out the window (God we were high up) and there was a knock at the door. A slight panic set in as Geary moved to answer it. He was grinning like an idiot and I was afraid that he had called the police on me. I titled my head to the side when I heard women's voices coming from the other side of the door. He stepped back allowing them to enter the room, and my mouth dropped when three prostitutes stepped into the room.

You have got to be kidding me?

The first thing he did with the money was buy hookers?! They all stared at me and thought I was some sort of prostitute that they weren't familiar with. They almost looked jealous. Well sorry to disappoint, but I would never, I repeat never, sleep with someone for money.

I watched Geary move about the hotel room happily trying to figure out every little scene for his fantasy. I couldn't help but wonder what I was supposed to do while all of this was going on. I would rather sit in the bathroom with the water running than be a part of this. The girls were watching Geary probably trying to decide who was best to do...well you know.

He looked at them with a goofy grin, but they were being serious as stone. Maybe prostitutes did have standards for who they slept with and they were drawing the line with Geary. The tallest blonde bravely stepped forward and told Geary that they wouldn't perform their 'duties' unless they were paid up front.

So much for standards.

Geary shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal and went off to wherever he hid the money. The prostitutes turned their attention towards me with their hateful stares.

"So who are you? We haven't seen you around before?"

"Well, that's probably because I'm no prostitute." I said feeling the anger bubbling inside me.

"Maybe not yet." One of them teased.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did she think I was going to participate in tonight's little event? Well they had another thing coming because I would hurt them all before anything like were to happen. I considered telling them all off, but there was yet another knock at the door. I don't think Geary was expecting anyone this time as he cautiously approached the door. He probably thought that Bellick had tracked him down and there was going to be a showdown right in front of me and the prostitutes.

When Geary didn't answer the door someone began violently pounding on it, and I was finding myself slightly afraid to find out who was behind that door. The other girls were jumping every time the door pounded and they let out a small scream when the door was kicked open sending wood chips flying into the air. Geary was staring wide eyed and a look of terror was written all over his face. I was staring in shock for I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was Tbag.

He had a hood pulled up over his head, and to anybody that didn't really know him he looked downright terrifying. Geary started backing away slowly whereas I wanted to walk forward to greet him. Tbag's teeth were clenched together so hard that I thought he was going to start breaking them. He lifted his finger and pointed for all of the prostitutes to leave the room immediately. He didn't have to tell them twice as they scurried from the room.

"Listen Tbag, it was Bellick's idea to do all of that torture stuff, not mine. He isn't even around so you and me can split this money." Geary was begging pathetically.

Tbag grabbed the bottle of wine that was setting on the table and threw it over his shoulder. He didn't look like he was in a sharing mood. Now suddenly I was frightened, but not for myself. No matter how much of an asshole Geary was, no one deserved to be killed. (Well maybe except for Mahone for killing Melanie, but that was different!) It was in my nature to protect people, much like I was used to protecting Tbag so I started to step forward to Geary.

It was then that Tbag's eyes flickered over to mine and it was like he had just noticed I was in the room for the first time. I slowly shook my head at him trying to silently tell him not to go through with what he desired. I wanted to get through to him for once and tell him that he didn't have to murder and cause pain all of the time. His eyes were locked with mine briefly and I thought I was making a breakthrough, but then they quickly masked over with rage and I knew that the fight was lost.

"Go to the bathroom Laneykins." he ordered.

I was too frightened to move. Geary was trembling against the wall because he knew what was coming the moment I left the room, and no matter what I did or how hard I tried I wouldn't be able to stop it. Tbag quickly moved over to me and grabbed a hold of my elbow and started pulling me across the room. I took one more look back at Geary trying to apologize for everything that was about to happen. Tbag pulled me over to the bathroom and pushed me inside. I turned around to face him with wide eyes. He grabbed a hold of the door.

"If you know what's good for you, you will stay in here." he threatened.

I ran over to the door as he slammed it shut. I reached out for the handle and started to turn it open, but something stopped me. Tbag was going to kill Geary regardless and I really didn't want to watch it happen. Plus, if I tried to interfere, then Tbag may turn to use his wrath against me. I released the door knob and slowly started to back away. I jumped when I started to hear them struggling and the sound of glass breaking. I put my hands over my ears trying to drown the sound out and I collapsed down on the toilet seat. There was loud thumping coming from the other side of the door and I was trying to blink back the tears.

A wave of guilt washed over my entire body.

Another person was dead because I didn't prevent these people from escaping.

It was times like these that made me wonder if karma existed. Did good things happen to you because you were a good person? Was it the same for a person who was bad? I couldn't help but think that karma was catching up with me and killing everyone I came into contact with because I was bad and let criminals escape.

I was so lost in thought I didn't hear the door knob click open when Tbag reentered the bathroom. I had no idea how long I had even been sitting in the bathroom trying to repress all of my thoughts.

I was sitting with my legs folded on the toilet seat with my hands covering my ears. No doubt I looked like I had gone insane. I slowly lifted my head to look at him. He didn't have to say anything because I could see it in his eyes. He just killed someone. The thought made me feel sick and I hoped the bleeding body wasn't still out in the room. My eyes slid up to meet Tbag's and he stretched out his hand for me to take. I got to my feet, but I wasn't going to take his hand.

I stepped out of the bathroom and started moving through the hotel room. I kept my eyes facing forward as I moved into the bigger room. Thankfully, there was no body lying anywhere, but there was evidence of a major struggle and blood trailed on the carpet. I knew that Tbag must have killed Geary but I don't think I would ever want to know how he did it. Knowing him, it was probably by extremely violent means.

The thought made me shudder.

The bottle of wine was still sitting by the chairs and nothing felt better right now than a good drink. I walked over and sat myself down on one of the chairs. Tbag was standing right next to me, but I didn't try to look up at him. I reached my hand over and lifted up the bottle of alcohol and drained it down my throat. It burned as it went down and I nearly choked as it crawled its way into my body.

I set the bottle back on the table and glanced back up towards Tbag. He was staring at me with an amused smirk and I was trying to figure out what in the hell was so funny? He just brutally murdered someone and was smiling at me. I reached out for the bottle again, but Tbag ripped the bottle away from me. I glared at him and tried to snatch the bottle, but he pulled it out of reach.

"What do you want?!" I snapped.

He dropped the wine bottle onto the carpet and lunged his body in full force at me. I gasped and pushed myself back into the chair trying to protect myself, but Tbag quickly hooked his arm under my legs. I tried to give him a pleading look, but it was far too late as he threw me over his shoulder. I shut my eyes tightly because I knew what was coming. Tbag started spinning around in circles and I suddenly regretted my decision to drink that wine. I couldn't even open my mouth to say anything even though I wanted to beg Tbag to put me down. He thought this whole thing was a joke. Well it wasn't a joke for me; couldn't he tell that I was clearly upset? The only thing I could think to do was to start pounding my fists on his back. It didn't even faze him and swore I heard him chuckle at my futile attempts. The only thing I could do was wait for him to finish his little game and try not to throw up in the process.

Suddenly, I felt myself falling through the air. I shut my eyes tightly trying to prevent my inevitable fall, and strangely I landed on something soft. I opened my eyes while I was lying on my back and realized that I had fallen onto the bed in the other room. The bed sank down at my ankles and my vision was soon clouded with the sight of Tbag. He was leaning on his side to my left and he was staring at me with a huge grin on his face. It was scary how his emotional state could change from murderous to a comedian.

"Haha. You're hilarious. If I were you I would stay clear of me unless you want me to throw up all over you."

"There are worse things than vomit, Laneykins." Tbag said scooting closer in my direction.

I swallowed back the thought of vomit as Tbag came closer. I observed all of the bruises and cuts as he came closer. Bellick and Geary really gave him a beating.

"How did you even find us? The last I saw you were handcuffed to that heater with the police on the way.

Tbag scooted even closer until we were side by side on the bed. He furrowed his brow at my question as the memories came back of the earlier events.

"Yes I suppose I did find myself in a little predicament after you lot abandoned me. It was an exciting tale as I plotted my escape with the sirens of authorities upon me."

I raised my eyebrows at him not amused by his choice in narrative.

"I have to admit that I didn't conjure up the most creative way to escape like a one Mr. Scofield, but I escaped with enough time to sneak out of the back before the police could beat down the door."

"Of course I couldn't manage my escape without a little sacrifice." He growled.

It was only then that my eyes widened at noticing that his hand was missing! I had to swallow back the bile in my throat.

"Your hand?" I choked out.

His eyes flickered down to his arm and his eyes masked with anger slightly. I could tell he was thinking back to when he lost his hand all over again. I bit my lip trying to think of something to change the subject before he did something dangerous because I was the only one around for him to take his rage out on.

"I'm sorry about your hand, but I know you and you will likely kill some other innocent victim and steal their hand." I said with a smirk and even he couldn't hold back his smile.

"But you still haven't explained how you tracked Geary down. We had to have been at least an hour ahead of you before you escaped."

"Does it surprise you that I always cover my tracks, literally. I bought a tracker and placed it in the bag with the money. I didn't exactly trust you and I always wanted to be able to find the money."

I put my hand up to my chest in a shocking manner, "you thought I was going to make a run for it with the money?"

While it bothered me that he didn't trust me, I had to admit that it proved to be a smart move in finding the money. Of course the tracker ultimately led to Geary's death, which brought back that twinge of guilt.

"I was so looking forward to gutting good old Bradley, but I didn't see him." Tbag said.

"Geary knocked him out back at the bus station and took off with the money." I explained like it was no big deal. "I guessed it turned out to be Bellick's lucky day."

"Why did you willingly stay with Geary?" he asked in more of a jealous tone.

"Who said it was willing? He had a gun." I tried to explain.

"Laney, I know you and if you wanted to escape badly enough then you could have slipped away. I am pretty confident you could outrun him."

Even I had to smile at that, "alright I didn't run anywhere because I wasn't sure where to go. I have no idea where Michael or the others could be and."

"Why would try to find Scofield? Why not me?" Tbag asked suddenly angry.

"I don't know. It isn't just Michael. I don't even know if they are alright, Lincoln, Sucre, C-note, Abruzzi, and."

"Tweener." Tbag finished with a growl.

Just thinking about Tweener made me feel sick inside. I did miss him like crazy, but couldn't voice that to Tbag without him getting angrily jealous over it. I leaned backwards into one of the pillows and covered my face with the other pillow. If I closed my eyes I could see Tweener perfectly. I could hear Tbag snort in frustration.

"If you miss your beloved Tweener so horribly then why did you accompany me on this trip?"

"Pardon me? The last time I checked you kidnapped me because I witnessed you taking the money. Ever since then you have made my life hell dragging me across the country, beating the living daylights out of me and making me an accessory to various crimes."

For once, Tbag was silent. I had no idea if he was processing everything I said or if he was just ignoring me and I really didn't care at this point. Everything about me was exhausted and I didn't have the strength to argue with Tbag about pointless things. Tbag somewhere must have agreed because at some point the lights in the room were turned out. If he was angry with me and giving me the silent treatment I would have to thank him later because the silent treatment way a far better punishment than some sort of beating. I had moved over to my side and only had to close my eyes for a few seconds before drifting to sleep.


	41. Chapter 41

The morning light was creeping through the windows when I opened my eyes. I was underneath the covers and I stretched out my body raising my arms above my head a little surprised that Tbag had never handcuffed me to make sure I didn't try to escape. I guess he sort of trusted me after all. I rolled over on to my side to see if Tbag was still sleeping but he was absent from the bed. Quickly sitting up, I allowed my eyes to roam the entire room trying to spot him but he was nowhere to be seen.

My head was throbbing and felt like bricks were weighing it down. I placed my hands on either side of my head just trying to stop the pounding. The bruises and scrapes were clearly visible up my arms and probably across my face. My body felt like it weighed tons as I tried to swing my legs off of the bed to the floor. Where the hell was Tbag? I highly doubted he would have left me here, but where has he gone? I pulled myself to my feet and started to move about the room thinking Tbag was just hiding somewhere. The bathroom was empty, and he wasn't in sight in any other part of the room. The next place I searched was the closet where the bag of money was indeed missing. Tbag had clearly left the room and took the money with him (Another sign that he didn't trust me).

After a few minutes of waiting, the door to the hotel room finally clicked open. I was sitting on the bed with my knees pulled up to my chest trying to do something to stop my headache. Tbag strolled in looking happier than usual. He was grinning from ear to ear and the bag of money was casually thrown over his shoulder. He noticed I was awake and nearly came sprinting over to the bed in excitement.

"Do I have a surprise for you Laneykins." He said giddily.

He was excited about the surprise while I just felt nervous. It was hard to feel excited about surprises from Tbag. He pulled on my hands so I was standing on my feet and started dragging me all over the room. I was trying to dig my heels into the carpet so he could stop for two seconds and tell me what was going on. He stopped right outside of the bathroom and spun around to face me.

"Take a shower first and I will explain everything to you." He ordered.

Without a second thought, he released my hands and quickly exited the room as quickly as he entered. I stood there staring at the door for a few minutes trying to figure out what just happened. Tbag said he had a surprise planned for me, and I had no idea if that was a good or bad thing. I figured I should take this opportunity while he was out of the room to take a shower. I had a feeling that Tbag was going to force me to go wherever he wanted to take me, so I might as well make myself look decent.

I scurried into the tiny bathroom and quickly locked the door behind me not taking any chances. I turned on the water and flipped the knob to the hottest setting. I shimmied out of my clothes and stepped into the shower. It felt like a miracle that I was able to shower two times within the past two days. I had to take advantage of every opportunity I got. Stepping out of the steamy shower, I wrapped one of the towels snuggly around my body and used my free hand to wipe across the mirror in an attempt to clean it off. I looked at my reflection and could see the cuts and bruises from Bellick and Geary, but collectively I thought I looked ok. Considering all this time I had been spending with Tbag, I could look a lot worse. I moved over to the door and quietly clicked the lock opening the door just enough to poke my head through and looked around the room to find it completely deserted.

I exited the bathroom and slowly approached the bed. A yellow summer dress was spread across it with matching shoes and a note.

"Downstairs, one hour."

I rolled my eyes at the command and lifted the dress into the air by the straps. My face started to flush when I noticed the undergarments were underneath the dress. In order to pick them out, Tbag would have had to picture me in them, and the thought made shudder. I looked back at the dress and a dry lump formed in my throat. I don't think I have ever owned anything that bright; that was Melanie's territory.

I quickly slipped on the undergarments and pulled the dress over my head surprised at how perfect everything fit. I stepped into the bathroom to take a look in the mirror. I ran my hands over my hips and turned in a circle twice examining every inch of my look. It really was a beautiful dress and Tbag was going to all of this trouble for me and I had to admit that it felt good. I was growing too accustomed to prison uniforms so this was a nice change.

When I was satisfied with how I looked, I moved to work on my hair. As my dark locks just fell past my shoulders, I grinned at myself in the mirror thinking back to when John chopped all of my hair off and it was starting to grow out again.

After I deemed myself ready, I slipped on my shoes and stepped out the door. My heart was pounding as I reached the stairs. I had absolutely no idea what Tbag was planning, and to be honest his surprises usually scared me. But he wouldn't have me get this dressed up if he was going to do something bad right? I lightly gripped the railing and slowly took the stairs one at a time.

It was a spiral staircase so I couldn't see the lobby until I rounded the last turn. I spotted Tbag at the bottom of the stairs looking down at his feet with his hand in his pocket. He was wearing khaki pants and a sky blue button up shirt. The color suited him well. He finally looked up at me as I stepped off of the last stair and approached him biting my lip nervously.

"My, my Laneykins. You look simply b-e-a-utiful."

"You clean up nice yourself, but what's all this for?" I asked curiously.

He didn't answer, but instead held out his arm for me to take. I stared at it briefly before slipping my arm through his. He led me out the door of the hotel and to our awaiting car. I should have asked him where he was able to get the wheels in such short notice, but I was too shocked to open my mouth. He opened the door for me and slipped into the driver's seat.

The ride to wherever Tbag was taking me was unusually quiet for us. Tbag was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, and I had never seen him act this nervous before. He turned and caught me looking at him so I quickly averted my eyes out the window. I could feel his gaze on me and I had to struggle not to look at him. We quickly drove through town and Tbag whipped the car into an unfamiliar parking lot. I opened my mouth to speak, but Tbag hopped out of the car, and moved over to open my door. Very gentleman like in my opinion.

"Shut your eyes." He said.

I kept sitting there just staring up at him. I really didn't want to shut my eyes for this surprise, and Tbag almost looked angry at my noncompliance. Finally after what seemed like an endless staring contest, I lightly shut my eyes. Tbag helped me out of the car and held me against his chest. He used the sleeve of his missing hand to cover my eyes so I couldn't peek. His other hand was gripping my arm firmly so he could guide me. He guided me a couple of blocks and it was extremely uncomfortable not being able to see for that long. I had a new appreciation for blind people everywhere. I could smell water and I guessed we were on the docks somewhere. We must have been close to some river or lake. Tbag loosened his grip on my arm to wrap it snuggly around my waist. The breeze was blowing off the water and I shivered as it covered my bare legs in goose bumps.

"Now can I open my eyes?" I whispered to Tbag.

He leaned in so his lips brushed against my ear.

"Not yet."

His breath tickled and I turned my head to the side. Tbag finally stopped walking and for a few moments we were just standing still. My stomach was doing flips I was so nervous of what I would see when he let me look. He released my waist and brought his other hand to cover my eyes. My hands were balling up into fists and relax over and over again.

"Open your eyes," Tbag whispered.

He removed his hands and I slowly opened my eyes. My mouth dropped and I gasped at what I was standing in front of. It was a boat. Not just a boat, a huge boat. White lights were strewn across the deck and they were illuminating a table for two. A solo candle was sitting on the table and it was lit and reflecting brightly off of the dishes in place. I looked back to Tbag with wonder because I couldn't believe that he did all of this. How did he accomplish this? He simply shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. I hit him on the shoulder and lightly jogged down the deck to where the boat was waiting. Getting closer to the water made it slightly colder and the wind was blowing hair around my face.

I was standing at the end of the dock waiting for Tbag to catch up to me. There was a gap between the dock and the boat, and one misstep would land you in the water. I didn't trust myself to make the jump in this dress. Tbag was soon standing my side and he gave me a look daring me to risk the jump. When I shook my head back and forth, he called me a chicken and jumped over to the boat. He reached out his arms for me to take and I gripped them tightly as I jumped forward to the boat. I I lost my balance and fell into Tbag. He gripped me around the waist trying to steady me, and I put my hands up to his chest. Both of his hands were resting on my lower back and titled my head up to look at him. He smirked at me and released me.

He escorted me over to the table where he politely pulled my chair out for me. I took my seat and gracefully crossed my legs at the ankle. I watched as Tbag walked over to where a cooler was resting and he flipped the lid onto the floor. He reached into the icy water where our drink was awaiting. He pulled out the bottle and I inspected in closely.

"Is that just water?" I asked slightly confused.

Tbag smirked slightly.

"Well, for your information, I couldn't buy any actual alcohol without being carded so this will have to do. Escaped convicts don't have identification."

"Ever heard of a fake? Even I had one when I was younger."

I couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped my lips and Tbag glared at me. I giggled again. I didn't mind the water and I gladly took the glass Tbag handed over. I was happy that Tbag wasn't able to provide real alcohol. The last thing I needed to be doing was getting drunk.

"I am also no cook, and good help is so hard to find these days, so our meal selection is somewhat limited."

I titled my head to the side trying to figure out what he was going to serve me. He reached down where his seat was and pulled out a pizza box. He lifted up the lid and inside was a steaming cheese pizza. Screw the giggle. My hand covered my mouth to try and stop my laughing so hard and I nearly choked on my drink. Tbag glared at me misinterpreting my laughing. I put my hand out in the air trying to explain myself when I settled down.

"It's perfect," I said with a smile.

Tbag smiled proudly and took his seat across the table from me. The pizza box sat in the middle of the table as we both hungrily reached for a piece. I can't even remember the last time I had pizza so I eagerly started digging in. Tbag was just sitting there watching me with a grin, and it made me a little self-conscious. I sat up a little straighter and took a light sip out of my glass. Tbag shook his head back and forth.

"Don't stop on my account."

"How can you not be devouring this pizza right now? Unless you preferred the taste of prison food."

I smiled at him, but didn't resume eating my pizza. We were having an endless staring contest, both of us trying to figure out what to say. He bit his lip before taking a sip out of his glass, and I mocked him in the exact same way.

"Ok, how about I ask you a question, and if you answer then you can ask me a question?" I asked. Taking another bite out of my pizza.

"Shoot Laneykins." He said.

I sucked in my cheeks trying to think of the right question to ask. This may be my one and only chance to get to know the story behind the real Tbag. Tbag quickly sat up a little straighter and it made me flinch.

"Too slow my turn for a question. What made you want to become a federal agent?"

That certainly wasn't the question I was expecting. I had to look down and take another sip out of my glass. Tbag never took his eyes off of me for an instant.

"Well that is what my father had been doing all of his life, and it is what he taught me." I answered.

"Didn't you ever want to do anything else?"

"Sure I did, but all I ever wanted to do since I was little was to please my father."

Tbag raised an eyebrow at me before letting out a light chuckle.

"That doesn't surprise me, you don't seem like the federal agent type."

I felt slightly offended. "Hey now, how long did a fool you into thinking I was someone else?"

He waved his hand like that was not a big deal, "All that proves is you are good at lying. In my personal experience at evading the authorities, federal agents are adept at two things. Fighting and killing. You don't seem to be good at either."

Again, I felt offended. "I was one of the top students in my class. They trained me how to fight better than anyone."

"I didn't say you weren't trained how to fight, I said that you aren't capable of using your training to get the things you want."

"That's not how it works. If I started hurting people to get whatever I wanted…well then that would make me like you."

Tbag grinned widely at me like he was proud, "you see that's why I don't understand members of the justice system. You strut around thinking everyone is beneath you when in reality you are no different than us common killers."

"But we are different, T. That's the crucial difference between common killers and the members of the justice system. They both have the capabilities of causing death and destruction, but police and people like me choose not to."

"I'm not arguing with you about the tactics of the fine authorities, but do you think if it came down to it that you could take someone's life?"

I wanted to answer, I wanted to tell Tbag right in his face that I could kill someone, but I couldn't say anything, and he knew I couldn't. I don't know why I felt like it was such a bad thing that I couldn't take someone's life, but I felt so miniscule sitting next to Tbag.

"I…. I don't know what to say. I don't like the idea of causing people pain or making them suffer. I never have." I admitted.

Tbag snorted, "did you ever think, perhaps that you picked the wrong occupation? In my opinion, hurting people is what the feds excel at."

"That's not true." I said defensively. "federal agents pride themselves in honorably upholding the law." Even as I said the words my mind couldn't help but drift over to the recent activities of Agent Mahone. One could hardly say that he was acting honorably, but I didn't have much room to judge. I helped released eight convicts from prison.

"Can we change the subject off of me please?" I asked growing uncomfortable. Tbag smirked, but didn't say anything.

"So wherever it is that you are taking me to this Susan, what's so special about her?"

Tbag looked at me as though I asked him what makes the sky blue or why the grass is green.

"She is the love of my life. Plus, I owe her a visit." He said mysteriously.

I raised my eyebrows at him. I am pretty sure there was a threatening tone underneath that sentence.

"You are putting an awful lot of faith in this woman even though she turned you in," I said.

Tbag scowled at me briefly. I sucked in my cheeks and took another piece of pizza out of the box. It was still steaming and the cheese was practically sliding off the pizza.

"Would you travel across the country to see Tweener?" Tbag asked sticking out his tongue.

I couldn't bring myself to look up at Tbag. I knew what he wanted me to say, but could I really give him my honest answer?

"That's different," I said weakly.

Tbag snorted and had to down another glass of his drink. I finally gained the courage to look up at him.

"If you ask me Laneykins, it is exactly the same."

I titled my head to the side waiting to hear Tbag's explanation. I'm sure he thought it was brilliant.

"Your relationship with Tweener has never been perfect, but no matter what you would never give up on him."

"Yeah, I would never give up on him because our feelings for each other are reciprocal. Susan turned you over to the authorities. Do you really think she still cares about you?"

I knew what I said was a little harsh, but it was like Tbag was living in an alternate reality where he believed everyone cared about his well-being. I had my suspicions that if Susan turned him in it was probably because she wanted him to rot in prison so she never had to see him again. Tbag didn't like what I had to say.

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up his hand and cut me off.

"Feelings don't just go away Laneykins. The actions of someone can say a lot about a person, but their feelings are true. If Tweener decided to up and leave you one day would you believe for a second that he stopped loving you?"

I couldn't stop the smile forming on my face. He was probably right.

"The difference is that Tweener never gave up on me, and I never gave up on him. Susan wants nothing to do with you and you are going after her anyway. Not because you love her, but for your little revenge."

I knew it was too far the moment I said it. He was looking at me with pure rage in his eyes, and I was expecting him to flip the table over and attack me. He was gripping his glass so hard that I thought the glass was going to shatter. He stood up quickly causing me to lean back in my seat. He was breathing heavily in and out and he looked absolutely terrifying. But then he surprised me by starting to laugh. He looked like a madman as he sat back down in his seat.

"You know, I think you are the only person that could say something like that to me and not get their throat slit."

"I guess I'm just lucky." I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Something like that." Tbag responded.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. We always got awkward when we had personal conversations. I couldn't even make eye contact with Tbag so I resorted to taking another drink out of my glass. Tbag was helping himself to another piece of pizza and at this rate our little dinner would be over soon.

"What is all of this for?" I asked waving my arms around the entire boat. It was all too extravagant and I had never been treated this way before.

"It is pretty simple Laneykins. Last night you told me that ever since we began this trip together it has been nothing but terror and misery for you. I decided to make you eat your words and give you a little fun."

I drank the last little sip of my drink and raised my eyebrow at him, "Is there your idea of fun? No offense this whole thing is amazing T, but it seems like more of a date to me than fun." I said trying to gain a reaction out of him.

"Oh this isn't fun to you?" Tbag said with a frustrated sigh, "Alright then come with me."

Tbag quickly stood up and grabbed ahold of my hand pulling me to my feet. He was not telling me anything about where he was taking me now, but I was afraid I opened my big mouth in patronizing his dinner idea. He hopped off of the boat pulling me along until we reached the docks. He was walking around like he knew exactly where he was headed even though I had no idea. This place didn't look familiar to me at all due to the fact I was blindfolded when we first arrived. I could see the car ahead and assumed that Tbag was going to take us back to the hotel. I was a little surprised when he walked straight passed the car almost like he didn't realize it was our car.

"Hey where are we going? Look, I'm sorry what I said, the pizza and boat was amazing." I said but Tbag only hushed me.

After several minutes of walking, well Tbag walking and pulling me along behind him we reached this little clearing in the center of this town. I thought it was an odd place to be in the midst of people where we could be recognized. There were bricks in the middle of the road and that is exactly where Tbag was taking me. I kept my eyes on the ground and noticed these decorative holes in the bricks almost like they were purposely designed there.

I was paying too much attention to the bricks that I ran right into the back of Tbag when he stopped walking. Was this where he was taking me? To the middle of some bricks? I looked up at him with a confused look but he was just smiling at me.

"What exactly is this place?" I asked a little suspicious.

"This is where the fun is." Tbag said eagerly pulling me by the arm.

He pulled on my arm bringing me closer to his body as he wrapped his arm around my waist holding me in position. His other hand cupped my hand as I knew where this was headed. Of course people had to stop and watch as Tbag started dancing with me like an idiot. I was too embarrassed to even look him in the face.

"Is this what fun is to you because right now I feel stupid." I admitted.

Tbag kept smiling and kept dancing. I made my eyes look around at the crowd of people watching us with smiles on their faces. We must really have looked like a couple with our outfits and proximity and it wasn't fair to me that I was being considered a couple with Tbag. Most of the people watching us had these grins on their faces like they knew some sort of secret. It was then that I heard some sort of rumbling starting at my feet. I glanced down at my feet and then quickly back up to Tbag trying to figure out what was going on. Tbag was still grinning at me and started to mouth numbers counting backwards.

"3…2…1…" he mouthed.

I didn't have time to register what he was doing before the rumbling grew so loud that I couldn't hear anything else. Before I could blink, a jet stream of water started shooting upwards from the outer holes around us. I gasped turning in circles watching all of the streams and I could faintly hear Tbag chuckling. The people around us all started cheering as the water started getting closer and closer. The jet stream of water would shoot out of the ground and then briefly disappear while another stream came out. They were getting closer and the only thing I could think of was not getting wet. I started to run away, but Tbag grabbed ahold of my arm turning me in a circle. One of the streams shot out soaking my feet and causing me to slip.

Suddenly I didn't care about getting wet and I pushed Tbag backwards right as water came soaring into the air effectively drenching his entire body. I started laughing and running trying to beat the water before I got wet. My hair was already dripping as it felt like it was raining outside. I screamed out loud when one of the streams came a little too close to my face. I turned my face up towards the sky and started spinning in circles as the water closed in around me. Tbag was suddenly behind me and I felt his arm go around my waist. He lifted me into the air and started spinning around in circles and I couldn't stop laughing.

He set me back on the ground and turned me around to face him. I stepped closer to him and we resumed our dance. My arm was slipped around his neck as we swayed back and forth. I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't even realize the water had stopped until Tbag had stopped us. The people around us were still watching and they were laughing at the sight they just witnessed. It must be the joke around this area to get the tourists to go near this fountain. I sheepishly smiled back at the people until they started to disperse. I looked back to Tbag with a grin as he started leading me away. Suddenly all of my thoughts seemed to vanish and no matter what my fate held, I was never going to forget this day.


	42. Chapter 42

We laughed the entire way back to the hotel. Our bodies were dripping with water and this dress was probably ruined. We quickly slipped off our shoes and were still hyped up from the day and spastically moved about the hotel room. I ran into the bedroom and launched myself through the air to land on my back on my bed. I was feeling this sense of euphoria as I felt the sheets dampen beneath me. My hair was still soaking wet from the fountain and it was soaking into the bed. Tbag wandered into the same room as I carrying the bottle wine from the previous night. I sat forward and attempted to shake some of the water from my hair.

"So now you are going to use wine to try and get me drunk." I teased and Tbag moved closer.

"Would it work if I tried?" he asked tossing the bottle in my direction.

I laughed and took a quick sip from the bottle. I was absolutely enjoying this day but I knew that I couldn't allow myself to get drunk. Tbag was manipulative enough already and I didn't want to make it easier for him by getting myself drunk. I slid to the side on the bed making room for Tbag and he took the bottle from my hands.

"Was that your plan from the beginning?" I asked as he took a seat next to me. He looked at me with a confused look.

"I mean this whole thing. The boat, the food, that water thing. How did you do it all? Why did you do it?" I said starting to realize I hadn't stopped talking.

He sighed like the answer should be obvious, but he didn't say anything. I sat straight up looking a little frustrated waiting for him to grace me with an answer. He sighed and took another sip out of the bottle.

"It was from the other night." He admitted. "when you were ranting about being kidnapped and harmed, it made me feel sort of guilty."

I stared at him confused by his answer. This was most certainly out of his character. Since when did he feel guilty about doing anything? Especially when it concerned his own behavior. I tilted my head in the direction towards his letting him know I wasn't buying what he was telling me.

"You should feel guilty, it is all your fault."

He sighed angrily and pushed himself to the edge of the bed. I have never seen him act like this before, and to be honest it was a little scary. Maybe this alcohol was making him act this way.

"Dammit, Laney I'm trying to be serious. Maybe I jumped to a conclusion too soon when I thought that I needed to bring you along. But let's face it, had you not seen the money I wouldn't have to make rash decisions."

"I thought you were trying to be serious? If you weren't trying to swindle everyone out of their money, people might actually like you."

He didn't respond to my outburst even though I half expected a slap to the face. He was just sitting in his own world like he wasn't even listening to what I had to say. His arms were resting on his knees and he was chewing on his thumb. It was a first experience I had ever had when he wasn't speaking at all. I moved along to the edge of the bed so I was sitting right next to him.

"Why do you care so much? Usually you don't." I said.

He glanced over in my direction. I tried to offer him a small smile, but I didn't know if it was really comforting him or not.

"Tell me Laneykins, what is it about Tweener you find so appealing? Aside from his boyish looks."

That caught me off guard. We were just trying to have a conversation about him, and he twisted the subject around back to me. Fine if that was the game he wanted to play.

"What's not to like? He's sweet, smart, funny, a little goofy, but extremely tender hearted." I said as though Tbag looked like he was going to throw up.

"So if I expressed all of those qualities then you would be attracted to me." He said solemnly.

Ok, honesty time. "I don't know how compatible we are T."

That got his attention. He stood straight up from the bed staring me right in the eye. The anger was boiling across his face.

"What do you mean we aren't compatible?" he spat in almost a dangerous growl. I had to swallow back my nerves before continuing.

"We don't have a thing in common!" I said a little more defensively. "A completely different set of morals, values, wishes. Should I go on?"

"Haven't you ever heard of opposites attract?" he argued.

"We aren't talking about attraction. We are talking about if two people are matched together so they can be together."

"So you admit you are attracted to me." He said more confidently. How did he always manage to twist people's words around to suit himself? It drove me crazy.

"I never said that! How can I be attracted to a criminal who murders the innocent for the sheer fun of it?"

"Blah blah blah. You are stating all the reasons we couldn't be in a relationship. Attractions, however, are physical. It's the pleasurable way your body reacts as mine draws closer to yours. And through every touch and kiss." He said biting his lip on the last word.

Even as he was speaking goosebumps started to prick their way across my skin. I was attempting to keep my face calm and make my body return to normal. Nothing got by Tbag, though, and he was aware of the effect his very speech was having on me. I had to think of something quick to cover this up.

"There mere thought of Tweener can make me react that way." I said with a smirk knowing I had pushed passed the limit. Tbag had his hands clenched together like he was going to punch me, but something made him relax instantly.

"Maybe. But the body's reactions are physical, and therefore cannot be controlled. It is possible for one individual to be attracted to more than one person at a time." I started to open my mouth, but he cut me off.

"Using your own argument against you, I think you are attracted to me because we are how you said, opposites." I held my tongue waiting to hear his brilliant explanation.

"It's proven throughout history. Black with white. Dark with light. The quite little good girl always has a thing for that misunderstood bad boy."

"This isn't a movie from the 1980's."' I said. "I'm hardly the quiet good girl and you are definitely not misunderstood."

"I'm dangerous and a risk. It sounds to me like your whole life had been planned out for you without so much as a misstep. The thought of being with someone like me is such a risk that the pure adrenaline from the thought feeds you."

I was stunned into silence. Things just started clicking together in my brain. Was this the reason I found myself so attached to Tbag and thinking that I was in love with him? He was a risk to me and it felt exciting. I brought my eyes to look back up at Tbag and he was smirking down at me in a victorious way. He believed he had just cracked into the way I felt and now that he knew it, he could control it.

"Tbag, I'm sorry, but." I tried to explain, but he interrupted.

"You are attracted to me. ADMIT IT!" 'He shouted. He was losing his patience.

His face was starting to turn red as his rage grew. I had to lean back towards the bed to try and gain some distance between us. I was afraid of answering him because of his reaction. If I said the wrong thing he would react violently. But, why should I lie just to please him? I had been honest in the rest of our conversation, and this answer shouldn't have been any different. The problem was, I wasn't completely sure of what the answer was. But even as I stared up at Tbag, I knew what the answer would be before I the words came out of my mouth.

"Yes." I admitted so softly I wasn't sure he heard it.

And then he kissed me. And I kissed him back.

**A/N: Yay! Summer is here! My goal for the summer is to finish this story, hopefully I can stay on it! All you readers can help keep me accountable =)**


	43. Chapter 43

When I awoke the next morning, I was alone in the hotel bed. Thank god for that. The memories of everything that had happened during the previous night came swirling back into my head and I sat straight up trying to regain my composure. Why the hell did I allow myself to kiss Tbag last night? I wasn't drunk or anything, but that didn't stop me from planting one on him. I shook my head trying to remove the memories, even though they would forever be there. I just had to be thankful that it didn't move much further than that kiss. I could tell Tbag eagerly wanted to further, but something held me back. I bit my lower lip and the sensation of Tbag still remained.

If I ever saw Tweener again, how can I stand to look him in the eye when I did something with Tbag. What would his reaction be? Why did it have to be Tbag of all people? How could I offer any sort of logical explanation for a kiss with Tbag? I doubted stating that I was a risk taker looking for excitement would get me off the hook. I was standing staring out of the window when I heard the hotel door click open. A thousand nerves were sent from the tips of my fingers, through my stomach, and down to my toes. My finger was in my mouth having the nail chewed off as I heard Tbag approach closer. He seemed a little agitated last night when I refused to go further than kiss, but he didn't try to force anything. Would today be a different story? I listened as he was moving stuff around in the room like he was packing things together.

"Good morning Laneykins." He said in a cheery mood making feel even more guilty. I didn't respond to him.

"It's a bright morning and we have a ways of travelling to do still. So let's pack it up." He called out.

That gained my attention and I quickly turned around to see Tbag gathering up everything to leave. I stared at him with a confused look.

"Travelling?" I asked.

He glanced up at me like I was insane. "We still have to get to Susan's by tonight."

He was still planning to go to Susan's? After everything that happened previously between the two of us, he still wanted to exact his revenge on the woman who turned him in to the police. I know it shouldn't have surprised me, but in a way it hurt. He forced me to admit my feelings for him, and I thought somewhere he would acknowledge that I didn't approve of his behavior. If he really did care about me in some way, wouldn't he try to change? He remained staring as the inner conflict occurred in my head. He knew something wasn't right and started to move towards me. I felt trapped next to the window with no immediate way to get away. Tbag extended out his arm in an attempt to caress my face, but I quickly jerked away from his touch. That indeed caught him off guard.

"I don't want to have to go through this with you again." He said in a warning tone. "you don't have to try to hide yourself from me."

He moved in closer trying to embrace me again, but I placed my hand in front of his chest halting him to a stop.

"You got me to admit my feelings." I said blankly while taking in a deep breath. "But it doesn't change anything." He tried to speak, but it was my turn to interrupt him. "You're right, there is this weird attraction to you that I can't explain, and I find that I like spending time with you. But even that can't stop me from feeling guilty."

"What would you have to feel guilty over? What we did was…" he started.

"A mistake!" I shouted. "it was a mistake due to a lapse in judgment. I shouldn't have kissed you and it won't happen again."

It looked as though Tbag's entire world came crashing to the ground. It was short lived, however, as the rage slowly started to set in. He began to clench his fist together and it started to shake.

"T, listen to me, you can be angry with me if you want, I deserve it, but abandon this long lost hope of finding Susan. She's moved on and you need to too." I said trying to do some damage control.

He closed the distance between us and gripped me by my upper arms. The strain was causing pain to my shoulders and I winced in front of Tbag. He didn't seem fazed. The look on his face was terrifying and I had recognized it before. He looked as though he could kill something. I didn't know whether I should say something or just remain silent. I really didn't want to fight with him, but I didn't want him to kiss me again either. For a while, we both remained where we were just staring at one another. Finally, he tossed me aside and started moving for the door.

"Go to the car." He ordered.

"Tbag I don't think…."

"NOW!" He threatened sending me sprinting out of the room. He must have suspected I would try to deviate from his instructions because he was right on my heels as we left the hotel.

After failing to convince Tbag to abandon this mission, we took off for the most silent car ride in history. There was not one word spoken between us. When we finally arrived, he turned off his car and pulled me out onto the sidewalk. It was eerie that Susan's new address looked like the exact same house as before. I looked over to Tbag and he had a different look on his face. There was definitely agitation there, but also happiness. And not like the evil happiness I was used to seeing, but truly joyful. We strolled up the sidewalk and I was a little apprehensive about approaching the door. I didn't want to see the look on poor Susan's face and her kids when they saw Tbag for the first time in years. And after they had escaped so he wouldn't find them. Tbag grabbed onto my elbow and pulled me up the stairs and right up to the door. He was standing off to the side and was attempting to use these hand signals to direct me on what to do. I raised my eyebrow at him and mouthed a dangerous word before lightly tapping on the door.

If I was lucky, maybe Susan and the kids wouldn't be home right now or they would be gone for the weekend. When was Lady Luck ever in my favor? It took about a minute before the door started to creak open. My eyes glanced in the direction towards Tbag and I could see his entire body tense up. The door fully opened and I turned to greet the person with a fake open mouth smile. I guessed that this was Susan. She was definitely older than me but looked a few years younger than Tbag. She had black hair like I did and at one point my hair used to be that short. She looked at me like she was confused to see me standing there, but she was wearing a smile nonetheless.

"Hi." I said a little too excited. Truth be told I almost too nervous to form words together coherently.

"Hello, can I help you?"

I hated lying, unless it involved some sort of job. The awkward silence took over as I was trying to think of something to say.

"I... uh... I'm new to the neighborhood and am just trying to meet some new people." I said thinking that was the worst lie in history.

"Oh well my name is Susan Hollander. It's nice to meet you.." Then she paused realizing she didn't know my name.

"Laney." I said with a smile not realizing the stupidity of what I just said.

She looked at me curiously before putting a smile on her face again. I didn't know if she was going to invite me into the house or not, but I had a feeling Tbag was going to make his move sooner rather than later. The dead silence was beginning to get awkward and there was no doubt in my mind that Susan was starting to get suspicious of something. I mistakenly flickered my eyes over to Tbag for just a second, but that was enough. Susan's eyes widened with fear as she started to back into the house. Tbag lunged forward shoving me inside along with her. The look on Susan's face when she realized she was standing in the presence of Tbag made everything feel colder. She looked as though she was staring at a ghost.

"Hello Susie." Tbag said with a smirk.

Just hearing his voice made her terrified, and I felt guilty. I was partly responsible for bringing this danger to her. Tbag moved further into the house trying to get closer to Susan, but she kept backing again. Soon that action would make him angry.

"Did you ever think you would be seeing me again?" he asked.

Susan's eyes were still wide when she realized she couldn't find her voice. She tried to hide them but I could see her hands starting to tremble. It made me wonder what Tbag must have done to make her so terrified.

"I...uh... I saw you on the news if that's what you mean?" she said softly.

Tbag smiled at her and reached out quickly to grab her wrists. She probably didn't noticed, but I saw how quickly his body had tensed up.

"Is that why you decided to leave your home? Too many fond memories of our life together."

She didn't have an answer for him, and I don't think he was expecting one.

"I have had a lot of time to think since you turned me in to the authorities, Susie. Ever since that day back in Fox River when you spat at me like some animal, I thought I would look at you with nothing but anger and hatred."

This is what I was afraid of. He was out for revenge and I was going to have to stand by and watch more people suffer.

"But, seeing you here today it makes me want to rethink things a little. This could be a new start for us as a family."

That was a little unexpected. He came here to settle down with Susan. He brought me across the country to watch him trying to go steady with his ex-girlfriend. I folded my arms across my chest and raised my eyebrow at him not wanting to believe that he brought me all this way so he could get with another woman. Susan glanced over at my little attitude problem and then quickly looked back to Tbag. She definitely seemed confused as to what was happening between the two of us. Her eyes said it all, how could anyone care for this monster? She did then something a little surprising by stepping forward and taking Tbag by the hands.

"Alright, Teddy maybe we do need a fresh start. Why don't we go away just the two of us and talk things through?"

I thought he hated being called Teddy, yet he grinned widely when she referred to him by that name. But something in his expression was a little more sinister. He gripped on Susan a little tighter as his smile started to fade.

"You forget that I know you Susan, and there is not a white man's chance in Harlem that you would go somewhere without your children." He said in almost a growl.

I watched as Susan's face fell a little in realizing that Tbag wanted to see her children. I could tell her breathing was starting to pick up as she was trying to figure out something to do. Tbag smiled at her telling her not to worry and then released her hands. He wanted to get a view of the new house and turned his back to her. That's when I noticed the wheels in her head starting to turn. She was slowly backing towards this dress sitting in the corner of her living room. I watched her cautiously not trying to alarm her or Tbag. Her hand slipped in the handle of the top drawer and she slowly pulled it open.

And that's when I noticed the gun.

My eyes widened. Was she crazy? If Tbag caught her trying to shoot him he would probably kill all of us. Her eyes met mine as she started to reach for the gun. I spastically shook my head at her trying to relay the message that now was not the right time to make a move. I proved to be right because Tbag was headed back in our direction and Susan had to quickly hide the gun and move away from the dresser. Tbag found us both standing in the exact same positions and his eyes flickered over to mine briefly. I smiled at him and his eyes glanced down to the dress I was still wearing.

"This will never do." He spoke addressing me. "You look far too out of the ordinary for this to work Laneykins. Susie Q do you have anything dear Laney can change into?" he asked in more of a demand than a question.

At first Susan was caught a little off guard by the question, but then slowly nodded her head. I was left to follow her up the stairs and thankfully Tbag decided to remain downstairs. I didn't really wanting him frightening Susan any more than he already had. Her bedroom was the last room on the right, next to the bathroom. The other two rooms with the door shut must have to belong to her children. We stepped into her bedroom and she quickly closed the door and let out a sigh of terror. I could see the tears starting to well up in her eyes and she was close to having a complete breakdown. I didn't know what else to do besides stepping closer to her trying to comfort her.

"I know this looks bad, but I don't think he is going to hurt you or your children. He actually doesn't stop talking about you." I said trying to find the right words.

She looked as though she could be sick, "I wanted him to just forget about us. You know what kind of monster he is. I thought moving away would help us, but" she said letting a few tears fall.

"He isn't a monster." I defended. "He may have done some pretty horrible things, but he isn't all bad."

She looked up at me then for a moment. Her eyes were narrowed at me as if she was trying to understand something. She moved away from me and started for her dresser. I wondered if I said something to offend her that she started to move away from me.

"I fell for the same thing too Laney, years ago." She said sharply.

Now it was my turn to be confused. What exactly did she fall for? Was she trying to tell me that she was once in love with Tbag? I opened my mouth to ask her what she was talking about, she continued on.

"His charm act. He can make you feel like the most special person in the world, and that he is actually capable of love. But all it is is an act. He a master at manipulating emotions and his hooks are in you deep."

I had to swallow a dry lump in my throat. She turned around to face me with a change of clothes in her hands and she was staring at me intently. I slowly started to move forward to take the change of clothes.

"Laney listen to me, it was the most difficult thing I ever had to do to turn Teddy over to the police, but if I hadn't my kids and I would all be dead. Don't let him have the control over you." She warned.

I didn't respond but took the clothes from her hands and started to move towards her closet so I could change. Susan was offering me a pair of jeans and a simple tank to change into so I could fit in a little better. I started stripping out of my dress and putting on the clothes she was offering me. I winced slightly as I moved my dress passed my shoulder and over my wound and lifting the shirt over my head. When I turned around to face her I noticed she was staring at me. Or rather, she was staring at my shoulder.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I was stabbed." I answered and then paused seeing the fear in her eyes. "Not by Tbag, I swear." She looked as though she didn't quite believe me, but she accepted my answer.

"I recognize you from the news and they are stating you are a hostage." She said like a question.

The whole world believed I was a hostage taken by the Fox River Eight. Poor Laney Collins was a helpless victim being trapped and having her life threatened by the monsters that escaped from prison. But I could tell something in the tone of Susan's voice that she didn't believe that I was a hostage.

"It's complicated." I offered as an answer.

"You were training with the FBI, right? Your dad has been on the news nearly every night. He seems worried about you." She said like she was plunging a dagger right through my stomach.

Did it seem obvious to people that I didn't miss my father? Of course, I was missing him and I could be using his guidance right about now. The only problem with his wisdom was that he could only tell the difference between what was right and what was wrong. There was no gray area for him and in his mind Michael, Lincoln, Sucre, and Tweener were just as evil as Tbag and Abruzzi could be. I couldn't even make a valid argument. I had my head hung in defeat as this woman scolded me like she was my mother.

"I don't know what I'm doing." I muttered pathetically.

I looked up at her unsure of how she was going to react. Surprisingly, she was smiling at me, despite her situation, and reached her hands out towards me. I stepped to her nervously.

"I want you to promise me something." She said resting her arms on my hands. "Promise me you want let him hurt my children."

I was stunned into silence. Did she think that I would just idly stand by if he tried to get violent? He could take his anger out on me all he liked, I could handle it, but a helplessness child was another thing. Surely he couldn't stoop that low as to harm children.

"I promise, but the way he talks about you I don't think he would hurt you." I tried to explain.

"Has he ever hurt you?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes, but most of the time I sort of deserved it." As soon as the words left my mouth I felt like an idiot for defending Tbag's actions. Susan could hardly believe it either.

"Please I have a daughter, and I know what he did." She trailed off.

"He doesn't want that for your daughter. He just wants to be a part of your family. Look, the longer you play along with his game the less likely he will become violent. You know this can't work forever, so for now just go with it."

I knew that look on her face. It was easier said than done, but if she couldn't do it for herself, than do it for her kids. She sucked in a large amount of air before continuing on to the door. I followed shortly behind her. We could hear ruffling coming from the top of the stairs. Both of us immediately tensed up at the thought of him finding the hidden gun. It could be useful for later. As we moved down the stairs we noticed that he was rummaging through old papers and books that Susan had kept. There was this smile on his face that almost looked like he was proud of something. It wasn't that rare of an emotion to see on the face of a criminal. They found pride in themselves easily. But this look was different somehow. It was as if he wasn't proud of himself for doing something, but rather proud to be witnessing something happening. It was peculiar. He looked up and spotted us standing in the doorway.

"Laney come over here and take a look at this." He said surprising me that he didn't beckon for Susan.

I looked over to her briefly before starting to move over to Tbag. She followed in close. I went to sit in next to him, but his arm extended out quickly to shove me out of the way. Then he grabbed a hold of Susan to place her next to him. I clenched my fists together and thought about calling him out, but I knew it would do no good. He was lost in his world of memories. Silently, I moved to behind the couch so I could see what he asked me to in the first place. It was a photo album I recognized instantly of Susan and her children. They were young, but they had the facial features of their mother. They had been on some sort of trip. The pictures were old due to the youth of Susan's face. It was a time before anxiety and fear aged her.

There were dozens of pictures and Tbag flipped through them quickly. Susan didn't need to look at them, but kept her eyes fixed on the door. They had been to some sort of an amusement park. There were pictures of rides and animals and poses next to statues. The memories made me jealous of the all the moments I would have liked to have in my own childhood. We never went to parks, or movies, or on vacations because my dad was always working. I had to make up my own adventures and memories. I always vowed to myself that when I had children I would make sure they would have these real memories to treasure, but lately I had no idea if I would survive long enough to have children. It was scary how much her daughter looked like Susan. She looked so sweet and innocent and now I understood why Susan might be a little apprehensive around Tbag. I did notice however that there were spots missing in between the pictures. Either she didn't have enough pictures to fill the album, or she removed them. I looked over at Susan trying to make sense of it, but she was trying to ignore it. Tbag, on the other hand, noticed right away. He started flipping the pages quicker noticing blank space after blank space. He finally slammed the book closed and looked to Susan.

"If memory serves I was at Story Time Village that day too?" he said.

What I wouldn't give to see a picture of Tbag at an amusement park. It would make him almost seem normal. Susan was staring at him with wide eyes afraid to say the wrong thing. How was she going to explain that she ripped up and probably destroyed every piece of evidence that Theodore Bagwell was ever a part of their lives? She opened her mouth to speak, but Tbag cut her off with his wicked grin.

"Just kidding baby. I believe that only a love that burned as bright as ours could match the angry flames of a woman scorned." He said poetically and corny all at the same time. He even earned an eye roll from me.

I was going to say something smart to him, but we all paused when the lock to the front door started to move. Susan stood up quicker than a flash and Tbag grinned in anticipation. I could read Susan's face like a book, and it was her worst nightmare come true. She tried to gain new identities to keep her children safe from Tbag, and in a matter of seconds they would be reunited with him once again. I couldn't help but wonder what their reactions would be. The door knob started to turn, and Susan was starting to panic.

"Please!" she cried out both referring to Tbag and myself. She was reminding me of my promise.

The door slowly pushed open.


	44. Chapter 44

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! =)**

"Teddy!" came one small voice.

"Uncle Teddy!" came the other.

Tbag laughed out loud as Susan's children came sprinting into his arms. I was left standing with my mouth open baffled. Teddy? I thought he hated that name, but here he was laughing away as the kids referred to him this way. The young girl practically jumped into his arms as he hoisted her into the air. It was awkward for me witnessing Tbag acting like a father. Susan looked as though she could be sick. He placed the young girl on the ground and bent down to her eye level.

"Look at my girl. You are aging faster than an aardvark." His compliment caused her to grin even though I didn't catch on to the joke. She wrapped her arms around him again.

"I missed you." She said with enough innocence in her voice to make any heart melt.

"I missed you too sweet cake." He said before turning his attention to the older boy. The kid looked as though he was going through his prepubescent stage where everything just seemed awkward.

"Zach," Tbag said with a proud voice, "you are a boy no longer." He reached out his hand to shake Zach's in a manly way. He was forced to grin and a mouth full of braces was revealed.

My heart sank as I watched this seemingly all American family. They didn't need or deserve this kind of punishment that Tbag was about to deliver. The kids were unsuspecting to the kind of danger around them. I was surprised that Susan was acting so calm. She looked downright terrified, but she was acting tranquil. Most motherly instincts would have kicked in and she should be clawing Tbag's eyes out trying to protect her children. It made me wonder what she had planned. Tbag stood up from his seat as if he was trying to make an announcement.

"As you can see I've painted my hair." He gestured to the bleach on his head. "I've decided to make some very important changes in my life.

"What are you doing here? Mom said you got a job with an oil rig." Zach explained. I glanced over to Susan at that cover story. She was staring at Tbag with a look that dared him to challenge her explanation.

He grinned in her direction, "that's right, an oil rig right out in the middle of the ocean, but those metallic beasts are dangerous and I got myself injured."

At that he lifted his phony hand into the air frightening the young daughter. I thought that was a smooth move, to frighten a child, but he remained calm though as he gently reached for her hand.

"Don't fret little angel, the good lawyers of mine got me one million bones for every digit I lost." He said pointing to each finger.

I wondered to myself what Susan and her family would think if they realized he kept all of that money in a bag that he wore on his shoulders. Of course, Susan knew his story was false, but he did have money. The money was obtained illegally, but he still had some. Zach looked back to Tbag with wide eyes.

"That's five million dollars!" that kind of money around here was probably unheard of. Both of the children looked amazed at Tbag, like he was some sort of celebrity. And I suppose in a way he was a celebrity for the wrong reasons. He was one of the infamous Fox River eight.

Susan on the other hand wasn't even looking at Tbag. She was staring back at the direction where she was hiding that gun. Maybe she thought Tbag was distracted and she would have a chance to grab it, but as soon as she started moving in that direction, he spotted her and was immediately to his feet. He wrapped his hand around her wrist, and to a naïve mind, it looked loving, but closer inspection proved it to be a firm grip of control. He smiled his charming grin to play it off.

"With all of that money I can do whatever I please." He said with a smile. "And all I want to do is spend all of my money and my time with you." He finally admitted.

The kid's eyes widened with excitement. They thought their mom was going to get back together with this man from their past, and they could be a family again. It was sort of tragic really. Tbag looked just as excited like he could actually pull this off. It was then that both kids finally turned their attention towards me and realized I was there for the first time. I tried to give them a soft smile, but they wanted nothing to do with me. I recognized the looks on their faces. They had no idea who I was and they wondered if I would come between Tbag and their mom. I glanced over to Tbag trying to figure out what to do.

"I almost forgot to introduce you," he said with another smile, "this here is my friend Laney kids."

They still seemed apprehensive around me even though I gave them a bigger smile.

"She was assigned to help me adjust to life without my hand. She can be a big help around the house."

Great, I was going to serve as the maid and nanny while Tbag lived out his little fantasy here. The kids seemed slightly more acceptable of me now that they realized I was hired help instead of a personal relationship to Tbag.

"Where is she going to sleep? We don't have enough beds." They asked innocently. That was the great thing about kids. They asked hundreds of questions that probably irritated Tbag only because they didn't know better. I wish I had the ability to lay a hundred questions on Tbag without the worry of being tortured or killed as a result. Perhaps the kids could give me a few tips on how to twist Tbag around my finger a little.

"Why I figured she would stay here for a few days until we could settle her up with her own place."

I smiled like I agreed with what Tbag was saying even though he knew if he left me alone in my own place, I would leave at the first chance.

"Teddy, we were going to watch this new movie with mom tonight, do you want to watch it?" the young girl asked.

He grinned widely, "That sounds great. Why don't you take your mother into the other room and get everything ready. I think I can convince Laney here to make us some snacks and drinks."

The kids smiled and waited for their mother before leaving the room. I was left in the living room with Tbag and he glanced around the room as if he was picturing his new life. It was different seeing him like this in this sort of family mode. His eyes finally settled on me, and I gave him a small smirk.

"My own place, huh? I like the sound of that."

"Just give the children some time. They will learn to love you and then they won't want you to move out."

He started moving about the room trying to find the perfect spot for the family to be. There was only one couch that he was eyeing. He wanted everyone to sit right next to each other. He was busy trying to arrange all of the pillows to one side.

"Do you really think this will work?" I asked.

"It isn't difficult. We all might have to squeeze together, but I think there will be enough room."

"I don't mean the couch, I mean this whole thing. Pretending to be someone that you're not. How long do you think people will buy into this? Your face is on national television as a wanted man."

He turned to look at me with the most hateful stare. It made me apprehensive as he stormed over to my direction. He firmly grabbed ahold of my elbow, but turned us around so Susan and her kids wouldn't be able to see us.

"You listen to me, you are going to go along with this for as long as I say." He growled. "Or so help me I will kill Tweener and make you watch."

I jerked my arm away from him after his threat. He had no right to treat me this way just because he was on a power trip as man of the house. Still glaring at him, I moved passed him and went into the kitchen. It wasn't until then that I realized I had no idea which drawers contained which items. I was so frustrated I started randomly pulling open all of the cabinets trying to find whatever I was looking for. I slammed one cabinet shut and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Need help finding something?" Susan said quietly and I jerked clutching onto my chest at the heart attack I was sure was going to follow.

"What would you like for snacks? How may I serve your family?" I said bowing forward just slightly.

That was enough to earn a small smile from her, which was something I hadn't seen since Tbag forced his way in. She moved seamlessly through the house pulling out cups and bowls then moving to where they kept the popcorn. My stomach rumbled quietly thinking about the forgotten taste of buttery popcorn. The silence grew awkward as she poured water into the cups waiting on the microwave.

"Your kids seem really great." I said spotting the napkins resting on the table and grabbing a handful.

Susan nodded her head in agreement but didn't respond. It was easy to tell that there was a lot running through her head. Small voices could be heard in the background, almost cartoonish voices. It must have been the movie starting. Then, Zach and Gracie could both be heard clearly laughing at something Tbag had said. I watched as Susan shut her eyes trying to regain composure. The glass she was holding in her hand slipped and went crashing onto the floor sending glass shards everywhere. Immediately, I was by her side using some of the napkins trying to pick up the pieces. Suspicious as ever, Tbag emerged in the doorway seeing what was happening. He looked agitated like the broken glass was ruining his perfect imaginary family. Susan was staring with wide eyes clearly terrified.

"My fault, T. The glass just slipped out of my hand." I said holding the napkin loosely in my grip.

He narrowed his eyes at me like I was completely worthless, and I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him. He held out his hand for Susan to take, but he wasn't asking. She passively complied. I was left alone in the kitchen as the sound of the corn popping echoed through the house. I had to admit the sights of the family lifestyle and the comfy home was enough to make me miss my home and dysfunctional family.

My heart strained at the thought of Melanie and even of my father. I felt guilty, I should be home mourning the death of my very best friend and assisting my dad. Instead, I was running around the country with fugitives for unknown reasons. We were all searching for answers. The microwave chimed and the bowl of popcorn was ready. I placed it on a tray, along with the drinks then put on a brave mask like nothing was bothering me and moved into the other room where this new dysfunctional family was waiting.


	45. Chapter 45

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving (Part 2!)**

The movie was half over and most of the snacks were consumed. The kids were snuggled up to Tbag on one side of the couch, and Susan was rigidly sitting on the other. Tbag never looked more at home. He had his arms stretched out on both sides of the couch enjoying every minute of his new life. I was left to sit on the floor and wait for command, like the house bred pet. Instead of watching most of the movie, I observed the people around me. Like Susan, who always checked to make sure her gun hadn't moved like it would grow legs and walk away. Or the children, who always stole glances at their mother to see if she would steal some romantic time with Tbag.

A scene progressed on the movie and they erupted with laughter. Even Susan allowed herself to force a smile. Then the wheels in her head started turning as she sat forward gripping ahold of the bowl.

"Why don't I go fix some more popcorn?" she said trying to stand up.

Tbag was quick to grab ahold of her shoulders forcing her to sit back down. "Laney can take care of the popcorn if anyone wants seconds, but frankly honey if anyone could eat anymore corn I'd be a'maize'd." He said with extra emphasis and a chuckle.

I eye rolled at his attempt at humor, but all of the kids seemed to enjoy it. After all, they were his intended audience.

"I don't get it, I'm 'corn'fused." Said Gracie with extra pride in her voice at coming up with a pun on the spot.

Tbag said forward and started to laugh as he turned his attention to the girl. "You sweet pea are sharp as a pencil. I'm calling it now, the 2nd female president of these United States sitting right here watching TV with us."

Gracie blushed at Tbag's flattery clearly loving the attention. Tbag was enjoying the attention as well, brushing the hair back off of her shoulder and tracing small circles on her collar bone. It was then that I noticed that something had changed. Susan was glaring so hard at Tbag that I thought that he was going to fall over dead. Her claws were starting to show as she felt the urge to protect her daughter. As soon as he touched her is when she snapped. She set her cup back on the table but tipped it over spilling the contents.

The water was spreading on the table, and Susan was quick to get up to clean up the mess. Tbag was quick to volunteer my services as maid to clean up the mess, but she kept moving as if on a mission. She bypassed the kitchen, however, and moved into the front room. I started to follow her, but Tbag held up his hand forcing me to a halt and he followed after Susan. I had a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. The kids must have suspected something as well because they had paused the movie wondering about their mother. I smiled at them and told them I would check on their mother. I slowly walked around the corner, not wanting to give myself away to Tbag. He was talking in a low voice to Susan, and he sounded downright angry.

"I thought we were wiping the slate clean." He growled.

"We did wipe it clean." Susan pleaded.

I finally poked my head around the corner to see Susan standing by her dresser with it open, but what she was after was missing. Tbag was standing with his back to me and it was clear that he possessed what Susan had hoped to find. He was holding the gun. It could be seen on Susan's face that all of her hope had vanished. There was no trying to make things work with Tbag, she wanted to get her children and herself as from here as possible, and would go to any means to achieve this.

"Don't lie to me!" he shouted.

The kids heard Tbag shouting and became even more upset. After all, there shouldn't be shouting over a spilled drink. I tried to signal the kids to remain quiet, but I was too late. Zach was on his feet prepared to check on his mom.

"Mom." He spoke.

Tbag's back tensed at the sound of his voice. He signaled to Susan for her to remain quiet as he turned around and started heading right for us. I quickly moved out of sight and told Zach to stand back. I could hear Tbag stomping towards us.

"Zack you get your ass back on that couch." He ordered.

I recognized the tone in his voice. It was dangerous and impulsive. He was likely going to hurt someone, and I would be damned if he hurt these kids. I had to make a split decision as Tbag came into view. I whipped around and punched Tbag square in the jaw sending him to the floor.

"Get out now!" I shouted to Susan, but she didn't need to be told twice as she moved towards her children.

The mistake I realized was that I punched Tbag with my injured arm, and slow agony worked through my shoulder causing me to hunch over. It became difficult to breathe and tears started to cloud my eyes, but I could see Tbag starting to get to his feet. The gun was firmly in his hand and he looked pissed. My free hand was clutching my shoulder, but my feet were free so I moved to kick him in the back trying to give Susan as much time as possible. He anticipated my assault and rolled onto his feet and gripped ahold of my shoulder causing me to scream out. Then he clutched my throat effectively cutting off all air supply. It wasn't long before he lifted me in the air and slammed my back over the coffee table. He released me and I gasped for air as he chased after the others. I felt dizzy and as I tried to regain composure I could hear muffled cries. Tbag was waving the gun in the air, and it was clear that they were not able to escape. I pulled myself to my feet as Tbag forced everyone back into the living room.

Susan and Gracie had tears in their eyes and Zach was trying to stay strong. They were scared, but it was clear on their faces that they were confused as to the monster they were seeing. Surely their mother would never let this man invade their home. They were forced onto the couch and Tbag turned his attention back to me. I tried to stand tall, but I was just as afraid. I still had to clutch my shoulder as the searing pain hadn't stopped yet. He moved over towards me, and with no explanation punched me in the jaw sending me to the floor. The kids screamed out, but I was okay thinking I had been through worse. He was angry that I had punched him and it was an eye for an eye shot. I pulled myself back to my feet grateful that my jaw wasn't broken or dislocated.

"Go find something to tie them up with." He ordered me.

I raised my eyebrow at him. He was going to tie them up like prisoners. They had looks on their faces of sheer terror, but Tbag was done being Mr. nice guy.

"Now!" he shouted.

I didn't even know where to begin looking. Surely, Susan didn't have creepy kidnapper rope lying around the house. My search led me to the garage, hopelessly looking for anything I could use. I spotted something sitting in a box labeled 'Gracie's toys'. They were jump ropes, several jump ropes. Yellow ones, red ones, blue ones, pink ones. Tbag probably wouldn't be thrilled, but they should be able to get the job done. After pulling out all the ropes I could find, I made my way back into the living room. The first thing that was different was that Tbag was nowhere in sight. It was odd that he would leave the others unsupervised. On closer inspection, however, he wasn't concerned about Susan and her kids because their wrists were bound. He had found those plastic ties used for cars that are practically unbreakable and placed them around their hands.

A loud pounding sound ripped its way through the house, causing me to drop the jump ropes to floor and went to investigate the source of the noise. It didn't take long to see Tbag with pieces of wood from the broken table using a hammer to make barriers over the front door. He looked as though he had lost his mind. Nails were hanging out of his mouth and he was hammering away like a mad man. Plus, he was muttering to himself about Jesus being a carpenter and teaching himself how to use a hammer. It was starting to scare me.

"Tbag, what are you doing?" I asked.

He turned around quickly as if I startled him. It maybe wasn't the smartest idea to anger him while he was wielding a hammer. It seemed that he was doing whatever it was he was trying to accomplish. There was no way that door was going to be opened. He marched over to where I was standing, and nervously I backed up a few paces. I didn't want to take any chances with him still being a mood to cause harm. He spotted the jump ropes on the floor and pulled the gun out of his back pocket. He told them to get up and move into the other room. He grabbed the ropes and forced everyone into the dining room where the single chairs were. Everyone knew that Tbag was going to tie them up to the chairs. However, Tbag gave me a shove from behind.

"Tie them up." He instructed me.

"What? Why me? You do it!" I countered hesitantly.

Tbag didn't respond, but instead he threw all of the ropes at me and pointed the gun in my direction. A dry lump formed in the back of my throat as I moved towards Susan. My hands were trembling as I wrapped the ropes securely around her body, and it was worse as I moved towards the children. They both still had tears in their eyes, and it was heart wrenching. Tbag deserved a special place in hell for this kind of torture. Once I finished, I stood back up and made a special point to glare at Tbag. He grinned and moved closer to the chairs. The gun was still in his hand and he extended it to run it along Susan's face. She turned her face to the side and was completely ignoring him. No one could ignore the next words that came out of Tbag's mouth.

"We will be a family, if it kills us." He said with the most sincerity that I had no doubt we weren't leaving any time soon.


End file.
